On The Corner of Bourbon and St Ann
by tinytots
Summary: 'When she would look at him with her cerulean eyes, tears on her lashes and disappointment in her face; it would break him. He'd begun holding himself to her standards; and it was... difficult to say the least. But he tried; every day; for Caroline.' Klaus has got witches to deal with, a King to de-throne and a baby on the way. Three things he'd really rather Caroline didn't know.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello All!**

**This story is actually already posted in the Vampire Diaries forum, but as it's primarily set in New Orleans, I'm posting it here also so that fans of The Originals can read it too :) It's mostly a Klaus and Caroline story, but all of the character's from The Originals will appear. **

**Hope you like!**

* * *

Klaus clenched his teeth so tightly he heard his jaw crack. Which was nothing really; when you compared it to the destruction his hands were doing to his beautiful 17th century, intricately carved red-wood desk, as he gripped the edge of it in an attempt to keep his temper in check.

'Yes Elijah,' he growled quietly and dangerously, 'I am fully aware of what the ware-girl needs. As it would happen however, her maternity needs are not the top of my priority list at the moment. What with the witches breathing down my neck; and of course the fact that they would like me to single-handedly take down Marcel... But of course, where are my manners, what exactly is it that Hayley needs that is more important than all that?'

There was silence on the line as his eldest and wisest brother held his tongue.

'That's right brother. _Nothing._ Tell the ware-bitch to stop attempting to make demands of me. I made it quite clear what the terms of this pregnancy would be.' He snarled; frustrated to high heaven with this whole godforsaken situation.

'Niklaus-' Elijah tried; ever trying to be the honourable gentleman. Klaus already had his finger over the end call button.

'Tell her,' Klaus sneered, 'that it is the witches who are, very unfortunately, in control of this situation. _For now._ And that they will be the one's tending to the baby and to her needs.'

He clicked the call off before his brother even had the chance to draw the breath he would need to respond.

He leaned back in his chair, frowning at the splintered surface of his once grandiose desk. What a shame it would be to have to replace it. It had been the centrepiece of his large, high-ceilinged studio apartment which overlooked Jackson Square. The desk had belonged to a beautiful and dangerous witch he'd killed when he'd been here a century ago; coming home and finding it still under the dust sheets all these years later had felt pleasantly nostalgic. And now here it was in ruins; much like everything else in his life at the moment.

His mood was dark; as it had been almost consistently since he'd stepped foot back in New Orleans.

The French Quarter was no longer the home he remembered it to be. It was Marcel's now; this place of beauty that Klaus and his family had found, and finally after so many years, been able to call home. Marcel had taken it and made it ugly. Oh the magic and the allure of New Orleans remained, as did the culture, the exceptional music and art, the food, the people, the exoticness and the beautiful darkness that could all only be found here.

But Marcel was running this place like a concentration camp. The wolves were gone; exiled, and the witches were cowed, unable to practice magic; and that was not how Klaus remembered the French Quarter. This was a place that used to be alive with the smell of magic and blood and the supernatural...

Klaus sighed and ran his hands through his messy blonde hair. His body hummed with tension. He wanted to kill something. He wanted to kill lots of things. But the witches held him in their power; controlling his every move while Hayley and his child were in their hands. And that made him want to kill them.

He had argued with Elijah that they should just destroy the witches; rip them apart and make them suffer for ever thinking they could to step up to the Originals and live. He'd said that they should remove the coven from the equation, and then hide Hayley away somewhere until Klaus' heir was born.

Elijah wouldn't hear about it however; blathering on and on about how Klaus had made a promise to the witches that he couldn't go back on, and that the life of Hayley and the unborn child were more important than Klaus' petty need for revenge on anyone who challenged him. After much discussion and near physical fighting, his eldest brother had eventually persuaded him that getting rid of Marcel was in Klaus' benefit also. That he could have everything that he'd ever wanted, that he could be King.

Klaus had gone along with this, in theory, so far, but the second the witches pushed him too far they were dead. Elijah be damned.

He sighed again, taking unnecessary breaths to calm himself down. He eyed the damaged desk again; half tempted to take out his anger on it and finish the job. It was ruined anyway.

He was blaming all of this on Elijah because he didn't want to think about the real reason he had stayed his hand with the witches. The truth was; the existence of this child niggled at him; creating a conscience within him that he'd never had, nor wanted before.

He wanted nothing more than to destroy the witches and Marcel and anyone else who ever tried to control him. But if he stood against the witches, they had already made it very clear what would happen to the child. And although Klaus wasn't prepared to even think about the child and how it made him feel... Its existence had stopped him from snapping Sophie Daveraux's spine on more than one occasion so far.

Klaus squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hadn't thought it was possible for a hybrid to get a headache, but he felt like his head was going to explode; thinking endlessly about this situation was driving him crazy. He needed out; he needed air.

With one last mournful look at his once beautiful desk, he strode out of the apartment.

He stalked along St. Ann Street, his whole demeanour screaming darkness and danger. The corner of St Ann and Bourbon Street was teaming with tourists; surrounding the pop up stalls and buskers. They all moved out of his way. Whether they were aware of it or not; the humans could sense the beast in him; and the crowds moved for him as he strode across the road and into the first bar he came across.

He signalled for a drink and wasn't disappointed when a glass of bourbon was placed in front of him. He drank it in less than a second, and signalled for another. The barman, a tall, muscular man the colour of chocolate, read the signs and dropped the bottle and a fresh glass in front of Klaus without so much as a second glance.

At least this place seemed to have good service; he'd been on the hunt for a new bar for weeks. His favourite bar, and the one he would have gone to tonight if he could have; happened to be the only bar in New Orleans that he had to go out of his way to avoid. He enjoyed the bartender there Camille; she had frequently brought him his favourite scotch without him needing to tell her what he liked; and then she would sit with him and discuss art and music and keep him preoccupied from the current state of his life.

But it also happened to be Sophie's workplace too. She had threatened him one night in the alley behind the bar, as he was leaving. She'd been warning him to stay away from Camille; he'd been so close to snapping her witchy neck and drinking her dry he could taste it.

He had raged at Elijah about the insult and threatened the coven with retribution even though he hadn't really had any power considering they still had his baby and Hayley locked up inside their mausoleum. Sophie had however, been dissuaded by the other witches from baiting Klaus outside of their agreement involving the child and Marcel. Since then she'd just shot him numerous hateful glares across the bar; so Klaus had decided to drink elsewhere. He was absolutely exhausted of trying to be somewhere he wasn't wanted. Mystic Falls had been torture enough. He didn't even want to _start_ thinking about that; Mystic Falls was a whole other festering wound he had to deal with at some point.

'Should I be offended that you found another bartender?'

He raised his eyebrows and looked over to the barstool to the left of him. It was occupied by Camille. He was furious with himself; he knew Camille and he knew her scent. But he'd been so preoccupied that he'd failed to notice her sit right next to him. He needed to think of a way to start clearing his head of all these problems he was dealing with; because he couldn't afford to start getting sloppy.

Camille seemed to sense that he was in no mood to joke around. She raised her eyebrows at him, but didn't say anything, going back to her drink. That's why he liked her; she knew when to talk and when to stay silent. But then he guessed she would have to have her wits about her; living in a town that was ran by vampires.

He decided not to take out his foul mood on her. Besides, she was usually so very good at taking his mind off of things.

'You are not the reason I left your bar.' He replied; with just a hint of his usual smirk.

'I know,' she said, smiling at him. 'There's a reason we keep Sophie in the back... She just doesn't have the necessary skills for customer service.' There was mischief in her eyes so he knew she was joking. She didn't know that Sophie was a witch; and he knew that the two girls were friends.

'Yes, that's one way to put it.' Klaus agreed, emptying the contents of his cup and closing his eyes as he felt the burn travel down his throat.

He opened his eyes again and saw that Camille was looking right at him, a question in her eyes. He averted his gaze; unhappy with the idea of being scrutinized.

'Has Miss Deveraux driven you away too?' he asked quickly, adding a teasing lilt to his voice and shooting her one of his best dimply smiles to distract her from whatever she'd been about to ask him.

She laughed. Her laugh was pleasant; it lit up her face. 'No, no.' She insisted, smiling. 'It's my night off.' She explained, gesturing to her glass of wine on the bar in front of her.

He eyed the cheap looking wine with a teasing look of distain. 'They let you order that here? I was under the impression it was bourbon or get the hell out...'

She rolled her eyes, playful as ever. She really was a brilliant distraction. 'I'll have you know that this is vintage. I have connections.' She tilted her head towards the muscular bartender.

He was about to laugh with her. But then she smiled and shook her lovely blonde hair in a way that for a second, she looked just like _her_. Like Caroline.

He felt the smile fall from his face. And he saw that Camille saw it too. She looked concerned, like it had been something she'd said. He interrupted before she had to say anything.

'Not you love,' He smirked, but he knew that it was a poor attempt at false cheer, 'I was just thinking of something else.'

'You mean someone else?' she asked. She was looking right at him, smiling; her face honest and open. There was no agenda behind her eyes; just friendly curiosity. The only problem he had with his new bartended friend was that she was so bloody perceptive.

_Psych major_, he thought to himself wryly.

'There isn't enough bourbon on Bourbon Street for that story love.' He murmured, chucking more alcohol down his throat.

'Yep, I know that feeling.' She nodded, her eyes still alight with her smile. Oh she was a little too much like Caroline; it pained him. Too much inner light; he should have known there had to be a reason behind him becoming so quickly fond of a mere human. 'She must be incredibly special, to have caught the eye of someone like you.'

He blinked, and narrowed his eyes just slightly. The way she'd said that set off warning bells.

'What makes you say that sweetheart?' he clutched his glass slightly too tightly. He could feel the glass straining in his hand. Either she was slightly fonder of him than he was of her... or she knew.

'Well I'm not blind, _sweetheart_.' She said, mocking him jokingly. 'I know you're a pretty big deal around here. You have Marcel's boys all on edge.'

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. So she _did_ know what was going on in the French Quarter. She knew how dangerous he was, and yet...

'If you are aware of 'what a big deal' I am; why would you take the risk in talking to me love?' he asked, smirking as he took a swig from his depleting supply of bourbon from the bottle.

'Jane Anne was my friend.' She answered quietly, her smile disappearing for the first time that night. She looked him straight in the eye. He had indeed been right when he's told Marcel that Camille had to be either very brave or very dumb.

'Careful.' He hissed, eyeing the people surrounding them in the bar. It was busy; and loud. A Friday night in the French Quarter was never a quiet night; so they couldn't really be overheard. But Klaus could sense other vamps in the bar; and any one of them could be reporting back to Marcel.

'And I like talking to you,' she replied breezily, her face all smiles again as she took a drink from her wine glass. 'You seem very complex; a psych major's dream!' She winked at him as she changed the subject.

'You don't know the half of it.' He muttered, still reeling from her insinuation that she was on his side against Marcel.

'And I'm sure I never will.' She murmured back, her cheeks flushed prettily from the wine. She stood up and shrugged her jacket over her shoulders. 'But I will enjoy trying to find out.' She smiled again. She had dimples like him.

'I'm going to head out. There's somewhere I need to be.' She offered no explanation as she reached for her glass and emptied its contents into her mouth. 'You should call that girl. You look like you miss her.' And then she left him. Somebody else immediately took her seat.

He turned away, back to the bar. Call Caroline? That was never going to happen.

They were both immortal; he knew that eventually she was going to find out about Hayley and the baby. But he would keep the secret for as long as he possibly could. If he could keep the child secret from the world until it was of age to be presented as his heir... he could have at least eighteen years. That would be eighteen years for her to think on how she wanted him, how she missed him and how she wanted to let him give her everything. Eighteen years for her to realise what a pathetic shit Tyler Lockwood really is. Eighteen years for him to miss her as much as he misses her now. And then when she found out about the child... and the Hayley thing... well, if he knew Caroline, even if she never wanted to see him again, she would still come to New Orleans and find him so that she could yell at him to tell him so. At least he would get to see her again.

He upended the bottle and drained the contents. Slapping some cash down on the bar, he slipped out of his seat and out of the bar.

The air is warm and close, as it always is in Louisiana, but it gets the smell of the bar out of his nose. All things considered; he felt like he and Caroline had finally left things in a good place after her graduation. He had promised her that he would wait for her, and he'd been telling her the truth. He'd just omitted the part where eventually she might find out something about him that would keep her away from him, even if she did ever decide she wanted him to be her last love. Well, she had Tyler for now, so it would probably be a lot of years before she even thought about Klaus again. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth.

He made his way back to his apartment; the alcohol he'd consumed had only slightly taken the edge off his frustration; and the delightful distraction of Camille had somehow been tarnished slightly by the fact that she knew everything. She was probably ready to support that dreadful Deveraux bitch on the whole thing; for all he knew, Camille knew that Sophie was keeping his unborn child as a hostage. His fists clenched angrily again. His trip to the bar had been almost one hundred percent unsuccessful at alleviating his anger.

His phone was bleeping with unheard messages when he got back. He was beyond tempted to just ignore it. He tried; he cleared his desk and moved the broken hunk of wood out into the hall to be collected for garbage, and he went back into his kitchen and warmed himself a blood bag.

The witches had forbidden him to drink from people; just another thing he was furious with his brother for agreeing to on his behalf. Elijah would do or say anything to ensure the safety of this child and he thoroughly expected Klaus to do the same.

Upon the announcement that he could no longer drink fresh blood Klaus had explained very carefully to his dear brother that the second the child was removed from Hayley, the witches would be the very first humans that he feasted upon. Elijah had grimaced; but hadn't voiced much disagreement; for he too was being forced to drink from blood bags. Although his brother of course preferred pouring the blood into a glass, rather than using the uncouth juice-box method like Klaus. Klaus made sure to slurp loudly from his blood bag deliberately when his brother came over to the apartment to give him a status update on the foetus.

When he'd ran out of things to distract himself from the bleeping of the answer phone he ventured over, blood bag in hand, and pressed the button to hear his messages.

The first message was from Elijah.

_Niklaus we must talk about Hayley. I am aware you'd rather not have this conversation; but the witches are keeping her in an environment that can only be described as a cave. I know you do not have fond feelings for the girl; but she is carrying your child Niklaus, and my niece or nephew. We will be negotiating with the witches about moving Hayley to a location which better suits her condition. I suggest you locate a place that is suitable for you; as I know anything I pick you will have issue with. I will visit in the morning and we will discuss. Good Night brother. _

Klaus rolled his eyes; trust Elijah to take on a pregnant woman that wasn't even his problem. Although he had to admit, with Elijah there doing all the fawning over Hayley's 'condition', it meant Klaus had received fewer texts from Hayley demanding saltine crackers and anti nausea wrist bands; whatever the bloody hell they were.

The second message was from Marcel; it made Klaus' blood boil.

_Niklauuuus, you simply must join us over at the plantation tomorrow night. I'm throwing a huge party to officially welcome you back to New Orleans. I know it's a little late, but what can I say, you introduce yourself to my boys with your teeth, they need a few weeks before they can throw you that parade man. All is good and right in the quarter now and we will finally welcome the Master back to his rightful home! I'll call you tomorrow. Don't you go missing a party thrown in your honour now! Bonne nuit mon ami!_

He could feel that headache coming back. He took an angry slurp of his blood just as the third message began.

_Klaus?_

His eyes widened in surprise. Caroline.

_I- I'm not sure if this is even the right number for you... Rebekah gave me it and she... she's not at her most helpful at the moment._

She sounded upset; he could hear the tears in her voice. His throat tightened and his trembling grip on the blood bad caused it to overspill across his fingers.

_I wasn't going to call... I know you're starting a new life out there but- _

He hears her voice break as she gives in to the tears. His heart breaks. All he wants to do is get on the next flight to Virginia. It takes everything he has to stand there and listen to the rest of the message.

_It's Stefan, Klaus. He's not right; I think- I think that Silas... _

She sobs; there are tears in his own eyes. He never could handle her pain; and he's never heard her sound so destroyed.

_And Bonnie... Bonnie's dead. _

There's almost a full minute of near silence in the message as she cries on his answer phone.

_I need your help Klaus; you're the only person I can ask. _

That warmed his dead heart slightly; that she still thought of him when she needed help. That she would ask him over Tyler; who was surely back in Mystic Falls by now.

_I'm at the airport now; I'm coming to New Orleans. I'll be there in the morning. I- Please help me Klaus. Please. I'll see you soon. _

Klaus drops his blood bag and the lukewarm blood spatters all over his feet.

'Oh bloody hell!' he cursed.


	2. Chapter 2

He paced like a caged animal in the arrivals lounge at Louis Armstrong International; raking his hands through his hair occasionally and checking his watch anxiously. A young woman who had been sat near where he was pacing glanced suspiciously at him; gathered her belongings and went and sat on the other side of the lounge. Klaus didn't blame her; he knew he must look half mad.

He'd not slept; he'd left his apartment and headed to the airport the second the answer phone had beeped at the end of Caroline's message. That had been five hours ago; and six planes had arrived in that time; none of which contained Caroline. He perhaps should have done a little research into the flight times before he'd stormed out of the apartment.

This was the very last thing he needed. As much as he enjoyed Caroline's company; he simply did not have the time or the patience to deal with Mystic Fall's latest drama. He was dealing with more than enough problems of his own. On top of that; he could not have Caroline wondering around New Orleans; there was too much here that he wasn't ready for her to know. They had been so close to being friends; to having a relationship that wasn't based on disappointment or confusion or rejection.

He sighed, frustrated. He was the most indestructible thing on this planet; if he were so inclined he could kill everyone and everything and turn the world to dust and bones; and even then; he would still be standing strong. But it wasn't his strength that was failing him; it wasn't that his sharp and clever mind had failed to come up with a cunning way of dealing with all of his problems; no, it was his _humanity_; that was destroying him.

_And that is all Caroline's fault_ he thought sulkily.

Before he'd met _her_, his life had been easy. Obviously there was the small thing of being hunted down by his own father for centuries; and of course that his mother had cursed him to never be able to reach his full potential... but at the very least; he had always known exactly what he'd wanted and he'd taken it. He was Klaus; the original vampire. His name alone was enough to inspire fear in even the darkest of hearts. If someone disappointed him; he killed them. If someone offended him; he killed them. If someone made a move against him; he killed their families while they watched, and laughed while he did it. He was pure evil. And he had loved every second of it.

And then she came along and _ruined_ him. With her light; her unending light. Even in the face of absolute evil, even though her own heart no longer beat; the girl lived and breathed humanity. She made him yearn for that missing part of himself; worse still; she made him want to be better. When she would look at him with her cerulean eyes, tears on her lashes and disappointment in her face; it would break him. He'd begun holding himself to her standards; and it was... difficult to say the least. But he tried; every day; for Caroline.

And so when the witches presented had him with their terms; the life of his child for his cooperation; and he had spat in their faces and told them to do what they would with the child; that he would never be forced into action by anyone, it had not been the heart to heart with Elijah that had brought him back, or even the revelation he'd experienced while talking to Camille about the street artist. No; Klaus went back to save Hayley and the baby; and allowed the witches to force him into taking down Marcel because he'd pictured, just for a second, exactly how Caroline would have looked at him, if he had walked away. And he knew that if she ever found out that he'd allowed a child to die, allowed his _own_ child to die, for his pride; _that_ would be the one thing she could never forgive him for.

And so, he was living this nightmare; caught between the damn witches and Marcel; in an attempt to be the kind of man she could love. Even though every second of being blackmailed by the witches was like swallowing razor blades and even though he hadn't allowed himself to feel for this child; he continued following the witches orders and protecting the baby, because he knew that's what _she_ would do.

He chewed his lip angrily; knowing that only a year ago, he would have scoffed at the idea of having his actions influenced by a woman. He cared about Caroline too bloody much.

It was too dangerous for her to come here. He was beyond annoyed that she had just jumped on a plane without his permission to visit. It was just like her to-

'Klaus?'

If his heart had still been beating it would have stopped that second. He whirled around to face her; probably at an inhuman speed, but he couldn't care less who saw him, as long as he could see her.

She was beautiful; stood just a metre or so away from him; she stole his breath and his words. Her hair had grown since he'd seen her last, curling sweetly just under her bust. She seemed thinner; and she looked tired. But her eyes were the blazing azure that they'd always been; her eyes were what he loved most. And they were full of tears.

Before he even had the chance to open his mouth to tell her to get her skinny arse back on that plane; she walked straight to him and threw her arms around his neck. He felt her hot tears burn on his neck.

His eyes widened in surprise. He was sure he took a comically long time to lift his arms and wrap them around her. Something was terribly wrong with her; Caroline had never been weak; she had never needed him or anyone; she had certainly never allowed him to hold her like this.

He pulled her as close to him as he could; burying his face in her soft golden hair and breathing in her scene. God; he had missed her. Everything about her felt like home; in the second she wrapped her arms around him he had felt all of the stress and the constant frustration fall away. He gripped her tightly; savouring the moment; for he knew soon enough that she would remember herself, and not allow him to be this close to her again.

'Caroline?' he whispered softly. He had forgotten all of the reasons that he didn't want her in New Orleans already.

She shook her head and tightened her arms around his neck. He could feel her body straining as she tried to cry quietly.

His heart sank for her. If someone had done this; if someone had caused her light to diminish like this he would rip their hearts out. Fury built inside him as his mind raced through the possibilities as to what could have happened in Mystic Falls since he'd gone.

When he'd left her on Graduation night it had been safe! He had subjected himself to an infuriating conversation with Damon Salvatore before he had driven to the airport; to confirm Silas' demise. Before he boarded his flight back to New Orleans; he had called Tyler Lockwood and made himself very clear on the terms of his return to Mystic Falls; Caroline was to be cherished and to be kept safe at all costs, up to and including Tyler's immortal life.

He was about to demand that she tell him exactly who had hurt her when she did something that took all the anger out of him; as she stood; crying into his neck and holding him so tightly; she gathered up a fistful of his shirt in her tight grip; as though she were afraid to let him go.

'Oh Sweetheart,' he murmured softly; pulling her to him with one hand on her waist and the other stroking her hair gently.

He knew then that it was too late for him; he was sucked in. Whatever she had come here for; he would offer it to her freely without a second thought. He should be angry that she caused him to come undone like this; she was a major weakness that a smarter man than him would cut loose.

When he'd arrived at the airport five and a half hours ago; he'd had every intention of being hostile and rude the second she'd arrived. He would have refused to help her and frog-marched her from arrivals to departures and paid for her to get the next flight back to Virginia. He would have been so awful to her that she would have been glad to be on a flight home already. But he knew what they said about good intentions...

She sniffed delicately; pulling away from him slightly.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' She whispered. Her eyes were wide and she looked mortified as she tried to swiftly wipe away the tears from her cheeks; as though she could hide their existence from him. He felt her moving to pull away completely, and he caught her arms in his hands and held her close. She looked up at him; so close he could count the teardrops on her wet lashes.

'No.' He whispered back forcefully. 'Don't apologise to me sweetheart. Come on.'

'It's just that I-' She tried to explain.

'Not here.' He muttered sharply; his eyes darting from face to face; trying to sense the presence of other vampires; trying to work out if Marcel was still having him followed.

He squeezed her arms softly, and picked up the hold-all bag that sat abandoned at her feet. He guided her towards the exit. He knew that he shouldn't be doing this; that the second she stepped foot out of the arrivals lounge she would see what his life was really like here; that she would become a target for everyone who wanted him dead here. But he couldn't bring himself to care about that; now that she was here he couldn't bear the thought of being without her again. He would protect her while she was here; he would go back to Mystic Falls and destroy whoever or whatever had hurt her. As long as she was with him; she would be safe.

Not that he would admit that to her of course.

In a very un-Caroline-like way, she allowed him to take her hand and walk her out of the airport and over to his car, without a word of complaint about him 'bossing her around'. She was silent as he helped her into her seat; she chewed her lip despondently, tears still falling unchecked from her eyes. She didn't flinch at the contact his hand made with her hip as he reached across her to secure her seatbelt around her. She didn't even look at him when he made his way around the car and got in next to her.

Several minutes passed in silence. He didn't make to start the engine; and she didn't make a sound. He knew she needed time. But he was not especially familiar with the concept of comforting a woman. For most of his life he had enjoyed teasing Rebekah when she'd been upset like this... For the first time in his long existence; he had no life-experience to draw from.

'Caroline. What's wrong?' he was practically begging; completely baffled as to how to help. 'Please sweetheart, tell me what happened?'

Her shoulders heaved and she brought a shaky hand up to her mouth as she turned to look at him.

'Bonnie...' she whispered; her voice rough and cracking with suppressed emotion. 'She's... She's-'

He reached over and took her hand in his.

'I know, love.' He murmured softly; knowing that she couldn't bring herself to say it. He saw her eyes flash dangerously and saw an accusation already forming in them.

'You said so in the message you left on my phone. I didn't know until then Caroline.' He muttered; completely resentful that her mind would even go there.

He saw her relax at that and nod her head softly. She looked like she wasn't even there with him; like her mind was taking her somewhere else; perhaps to the last time she'd seen Bonnie's smiling face. That's how it had been for him when Kol had been murdered by that bitch doppelganger.

He sighed; he knew exactly how she felt.

'It will hurt less tomorrow love. And even less the day after.' He told her earnestly; squeezing the hand she was still allowing him to keep in his grip.

'It's not just that Klaus,' she sighed; her blue eyes dark with grief. 'Something is wrong with Stephan and I- it's so awful. He hasn't turned it off I know that; it's _something_ else! Damon is absolutely no help at all; all he cares about is Stephan 'moving on' and its bullshit! And Bonnie is gone... and Matt took off with your awful sister and there's no one there but me and I _can't_-' she ran out of breath, breathing hard; on the edge of hysteria.

Klaus reached across the car for her; he couldn't stop himself. He tried to tell himself that he had decided to do it; that it had been a conscious decision; but really he thought he might just be a complete slave to this baby vampires needs. He pulled her into his arms and ran his hand up and down her back; trying to soothe her as she tried to control herself.

He always forgot how young she was. Everything was heightened for vampires; especially for a new vampire. Caroline only reached the age of seventeen as a human, had only spent a year as a vampire; and now she was dealing with the death of her best friend; a girl who she had loved since childhood; a sister.

When he had killed his mother as a young vampire; his grief had been a living monster that had consumed him. Granted; there had been a lot of other emotions regarding her murder that had overwhelmed him; but the worst was the grief. He had killed the woman; and yet when all was said and done, he'd simply been a boy who desperately missed his mother. Centuries had passed before he'd allowed himself to experience real emotion again.

Grief was the hardest; it must be destroying her. He found himself oddly proud of her for not just turning her humanity off. But then, with someone as irrefutably _human_ as Caroline, he had to wonder if that was even possible for her.

'We will sort it out love. But we can't discuss Mystic Falls here.'

She sobbed; he felt it wrack her whole body. She leaned back; moving so her face was no longer pressed against his chest. Tears still rolled down her porcelain cheeks.

'You haven't changed. You're still as cagey as ever.' She muttered, a frown tugging at the corner of her mouth.

'Caroline,' he said, in the strained patient tone he knew that he reserved just for her, 'I am doing this for your safety.'

'Sure.' She huffed, sitting back in her seat, surly.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes; given the situation. This was more like the Caroline he remembered. No one could irritate him quite like she could.

He was about to impatiently tell her that if she would just for once do as he asked... but he bit his tongue and tried something else. He tried to be the Klaus that he wanted to be when he was with her.

'Look sweetheart, I'm sorry about your friend Bonnie.' He began, slightly nervously. Which was ridiculously ironic because he literally had _nothing_ to fear on the whole planet.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't interrupt him. She didn't call him out on the fact that he'd never cared for Bonnie; so that was a start.

'I know that you loved her.'

He saw her close her eyes against the pain of his words.

'That she was your sister.'

Tears tumbled down her cheeks from her closed eyes and he could see her breath catching in her throat as she tried to fight back against the tears.

'But let me tell you something Caroline darling, look at me.'

He reached for her chin and tilted her face so that their gazes were level as she opened her sad eyes.

'I know a little something about losing family. And _I_ will get you through this; I promise.'

She looked at him curiously; like she'd never really seen him before. It made him feel uncomfortable; her gaze then was one of the hardest he'd ever had to endure. It was like she was trying to guess what he was thinking. Ha, she would be lucky, if she was going to sit there; being the opposite of everything he'd ever known her to be... he wasn't going to give _her_ any help figuring _him_ out.

She took his hand from her face and held it in hers for a second. She looked at him; with so much feeling behind her eyes. It was a look that he'd seen countless times before; the day he had saved her life when Alaric was torturing her in the school; the day he had told her about the humming bird; on the day he had told her he intended to be her last love. She nodded slowly; for the first time ever; silently acknowledging that she might just need him.

She took a packet of tissues from her pocket and dabbed her eyes, she looked at her reflection in the car mirror and shook out her hair. She bit her lip, seeming to think about it. And then she turned to him and gave him a weak smile.

Despite him being on his forty-fourth hour now without sleep, or sufficient blood, and considering it was little after six in the morning; seeing her smile was the very best thing he'd had in his life for months.

And then suddenly she was the Caroline he was in love with.

'Why is it like, a zillion degrees here? 'She complained as she reached for the dials on the air conditioning; fiddling with them and completely destroying his preferred settings. 'It's so clammy!'

He smirked, just slightly. It was nice to know she was still _his_ Caroline.

'Welcome to New Orleans love.' He grinned as he pulled away from the curb.


	3. Chapter 3

He observed her closely as he made her a pot of tea in his kitchen. He'd not taken his eyes off her from the second he'd led her past the damaged remains that used to be his desk out in the hallway, into his apartment. He had wanted to watch her face as she took in the apartment for the first time. This wasn't some gaudy mansion he had purchased to make a statement in a small town; this apartment was a place he had picked for himself; that reflected the things he truly liked and the way he really lived.

He'd never invited anyone here other than his siblings. Since he'd bought the property from a mill owner a century ago; he'd never had a visitor who wasn't of his blood. And even though this was Caroline; a girl he had let into his life far more than he'd ever meant to; he was still a little unsettled as he watched her walk slowly around the apartment; soaking in all the little details of his life here.

She stopped to gaze thoughtfully at the art that hung on the walls; probably wondering if it was his; but seemingly choosing not to ask as she moved on. She ran her hands down the exquisite, black velvet curtains that hung across the floor-to-ceiling glass doors leading out onto the balcony.

She was upset still; he could tell. She stood there at the window; her blonde hair shining like molten gold in the early morning sunlight. She was a wilted flower; beautiful still, but surrounded by the melancholy of death.

She caught him looking at her. He was out of practice.

In Mystic Falls he had always made sure to be on his guard around her; to keep his feelings in check. Of course, on more than one occasion, she had come close to seeing parts of him he'd rather keep secret. She had an uncanny knack of almost tricking him into showing her his feelings. She would make him so angry that he would just scream honesty at her to get her to shut up. He wasn't yet sure if she did that on purpose or not.

Which is why he tried to control himself when he was around her; as much as he felt for her; having her see him being vulnerable was like air on an open would. He was so distracted by how worried he was about her that he did not have time to rearrange his face back into his usual mask of indifference.

She gazed at him; as though he were an intricate puzzle she just couldn't work out. She wore the same look of intrigue on her face that she'd worn the night of the ball at his home, when he'd invited her into his study for the first time.

He knew that Caroline wanted nothing more than to be able to understand him; to be able to identify with the ancient being who claimed to be in love with her. He could see it in her eyes when she looked at him sometimes. She desperately wanted to bridge inconceivable distance between them; to figure out how he; a creature of darkness who had watched the world grow old; could still be human enough to feel for a bouncy blonde, 18 year old, baby vampire. He couldn't understand it himself; never mind explain it to her. Besides which; they were both quite aware it would be a long, long time before Caroline stopped examining _his_ feelings and started examining her own.

'Come here love,' he asked quickly, before she could say anything about catching him gazing at her.

She raised her eyebrows and he could see a snippy retort on her lips.

'Please.' He added hastily, fully aware that telling her what to do was a sure fire way to end up in an argument. 'I made you some tea. It'll help you sleep.'

'Klaus, I told you I slept on the plane.' She complained, stomping over and joining him at the breakfast counter nonetheless. She grabbed the cup of hot tea he'd put in front of her the second she sat down; so he knew that she was only pretending to resist.

He knew Caroline, and he knew that even though she'd begged him for his help in her message and cried in his arms, she would never willingly let him look after her. He knew, that before she'd become a vampire, she'd been the kind of young woman who couldn't exist without a boyfriend; that she'd needed a man in her life to look after her. But she was no longer that girl; she'd told him so herself. She preferred the person she was now that she was a vampire. And that's why she would only grudgingly accept his help now.

'Caroline.' He said with just a hint of a threat in his voice.

'Fine, god, I'll drink it.' She sniffed at the tea cup gingerly; wrinkling her nose. 'But it smells funny.'

'It's Earl Grey tea, Caroline, there is citrus in it-' he began to explain, already frustrated with her and she'd only been in his apartment for four and a half minutes... Then he saw that she had a small smile on her lips as she brought the cup to her mouth and took a sip. She was messing with him.

He had to smile; grudgingly.

'Just drink your tea.' He said sternly.

She just smirked and drank her tea.

He turned to the fridge and started rifling through the blood bags in there to find a B positive; he knew it was her favourite. He couldn't help but smile; here she was, her best friend dead; her world crashing down around her, and she was still a breath of fresh air in his life.

He microwaved the blood bag and tossed it on the counter in front of her. She smiled; but said nothing as she picked it up. He didn't bother offering her a glass; he knew she drank it juice box style, like him.

He allowed her a few minutes of quiet. He washed up her tea cup, and walked back over to where he'd dropped the blood bag the night before; wiping off the dried blood that had spattered across his glass coffee table and onto the side of the leather sofas.

He peeked at her a few times; she was contentedly sipping on her blood. He was glad to see the colour was returning to her fair cheeks. He felt a surge of relief; he'd never seen her look so tired and worn down; it was not like Caroline to allow herself to be beaten by anything; but that's how she'd looked just an hour or so ago.

He dumped the dirty cloth in the dustbin and washed his hands.

When he joined her again she'd finished her blood bag. She held the empty bag tightly in her fist; which was trembling slightly as tears fell down her cheeks.

'Caroline,' he whispered sadly; seeing her light dimming like this was breaking his heart.

'I'm sorry,' she breathed.

'Cry if you must love, don't be sorry.' He said soothingly. He was desperate to take her hand like he had in the car before, but he refrained. Now was not the time to be selfish with her.

'Klaus,' she whispered softly. She turned her eyes on him; blue and full of sadness; he had to swallow against the building emotion in his chest. He cursed himself; wishing he knew how to care properly for another person; hating that he was so useless when she clearly needed comfort.

'What do you need Caroline?' he asked her. His gaze bore into hers. He would give her anything she wanted if it would take the sadness from her eyes.

'I don't even know.' She laughed bitterly, her grip on the blood bag tightening. 'I thought I could just come here and ask you for your help and everything would be ok. But that was stupid; I don't even know what I was thinking.'

Ok, that hurt. He wasn't even going to bother hiding that from her. He frowned deeply; and sat back in his chair, putting some distance between them.

'What exactly is it, that I have done wrong this time love?' he bit out, his tone low and dangerous.

'No, no, I don't mean that.' She quickly told him. Her eyes went wide with panic when she realised that she'd upset him; and she quickly reached for him, her hand squeezing his forearm reassuringly. It was pleasant; the second time she had voluntarily touched him in the last two hours.

He allowed his muscles to un-tense as he swallowed the hurt and resentment that had immediately flourished the moment he'd assumed she'd been rejecting him. _Again_.

'I just mean that I'm not sure that there's anything you _can_ do.' She saw the look on his face at that. 'Yes, Klaus, even you.' She sighed heavily, finally letting the blood bag fall from her clenched fist.

'Why don't you just tell me what happened love?' he asked gently. So gently he was surprised by himself. He knew that once upon a time he had been a man capable of kindness; but it had been so long since he'd ever been kind, that he'd assumed he had lost the ability.

So she told him. In typical Caroline style; there was far too much detail. He did not, for example need to know; that Damon and Elena were 'shacking up' now at the boarding house. Or that his darling sister had swanned off to Florence with the busboy.

He could tell that she was avoiding broaching whatever it was that had led to her jumping on a plane to New Orleans in the middle of the night. He really wanted to ask her what _she_ had been doing in the months that he hadn't seen her; but if they both allowed themselves to be distracted, he would never know why she had come here.

'Caroline,' after a brief moment of worrying what she might think; he reached for her hand. She looked down at their entwined fingers and bit her lip anxiously. 'Tell me _what happened_.'

She told him everything then. It came pouring out of her like she'd been keeping it all inside for weeks. Which it turned out; she had. With Bonnie dead; Stefan gone, Matt and Rebekah travelling, Damon and Elena, ahem, preoccupied... Caroline had had no one to talk to.

He had quirked his eyebrows when he noticed that she hadn't mentioned where Tyler was in all of this. But either she chose to ignore him, or she was too upset to notice that he'd noticed.

She clung to his hand as she told him how Jeremy had tried to lie to her and Elena about where Bonnie had gone to after graduation; how Elena had seen right through him and forced him to tell them the truth; that Bonnie had died before Graduation. That she was on the other side now; never to come back. Caroline had not seen Elena since; her friend had been seeking comfort in Damon ever since they had found out their best friend was dead. Caroline had been left with no one.

Her eyes flooded with tears when she told him about Stefan. About how; at first she had thought her friend was just reacting to Elena choosing Damon instead of him. But how Stefan's increasingly dark and strange behaviour had forced her to suspect that this Stefan could only be Silas.

His jaw was clenched so tightly that he could taste blood when she'd finished explaining everything he had missed while he'd been gone.

She looked to him; her eyes wide and full of innocence. Looking at him as though she expected him to have all the answers. He had answers all right; but he was certain they were not the ones she had come all the way to 'Nola to get.

He retracted his hand from hers, pretending to adjust the necklaces that hung at his throat. The truth was; he felt guilty; guilty for knowing he was about to hurt her even more.

Silas was still very much alive; that much was certain.

'Have you spoken to Damon about your concerns? Surely he would know best if this is his much-loved younger brother and not Silas. Caroline, as much as you value your friendship with Stefan, you have known him for only a year. I too encountered Stefan when he was in a dark place, so dark that not much of the real Stefan remained; perhaps Elena's rejection is truly what has brought this on?' he asked slowly, stalling, looking for any reason not to have to tell her what he _truly_ thought was going on in Mystic Falls.

'Of course I did Klaus, I called him last night!' she answered snippishly, wringing her hands together in her lap in frustration. 'He just blew me off like _always_. He doesn't _want_ to have to look too closely at Stefan's behaviour because then he would have to deal with how fucking guilty he feels for stealing the girl his brother would have died for!' She rolled her eyes and scowled furiously.

He raised his eyebrows at her sudden rage, but made no comment on her foul mouth. He made a mental note not to mention the older Salvatore in front of her again.

'But I _know_ Stefan, Klaus. And I know that it's not him. I can't give you a rational reason why, I just know. I know he's reading my mind; that he knows everything Stefan and I have ever said to each other, and that he knows exactly how I would expect Stefan to be... but it's _not_ him Klaus, it's not. When I look into his eyes there is _nothing_ there. It's terrifying.' She frowned deeply, and seemed to shiver slightly at the memory.

He knew exactly how she felt; he had looked into Silas' eyes when they had been Shane's eyes, and then his dear Caroline's. He knew that they were empty; flat and void. He had never known true evil until that day.

Panic flared in the pit of his stomach suddenly; making him feel sick.

'Silas can read your mind Caroline! _Tell me_ you didn't come to suspect him while you were in his company?' he shot up, panicked; his chair falling loudly to the floor behind him. If Silas knew Caroline suspected him; he needed to get her somewhere safe _now_.

Her eyes widened in surprise at his sudden movement. She looked up at him from where she still sat.

'No,' she said soothingly, for the first time in their history, attempting to calm him down without shouting at him. 'No, there was just something I couldn't put my finger on, niggling at me, but I never realised what I thought the problem was. Besides, I think Silas is too sure that his disguise is completely foolproof to care that I was beginning to question it. I put it all together when I was at home last night. That's when I called you.'

The relief he felt nearly knocked him off of his feet. It would be ok; she wasn't in danger from Silas, _yet_, and now he knew the situation, he could protect her accordingly.

'Anyway that's not the problem! If it _is_ Silas,' she carried on, 'walking around, looking and acting like Stefan,' she murmured; her voice rough with misery. 'Where is _our_ Stefan?'

He didn't have anything to say to that; he wasn't ready to tell her. He'd gotten so distracted worrying about her, again, that he'd almost forgotten what she hadn't quite figured out yet.

He ran his hands through his hair and said nothing. Knowing that his jaw much be twitching; he was grinding his teeth so violently.

'Klaus?' she questioned, just a hint of fear tingeing her voice.

He didn't answer; he turned away from her, wishing again she hadn't come here. Why was it always like this between them? Why did it have to be so complicated?

'Klaus?' she snapped, all patience gone. 'Seriously! Do you know where he is? Tell me, Klaus, or I swear to God-'

'Stephan is already dead Caroline.' He snapped. It was out of his mouth before he'd even thought about a softer way to tell her.

She sucked in her breath; sinking back into her chair; her face stricken. 'What? No! Klaus, no!'

His nails cut into the skin of his palms as he crushed his fists together. There was no easy way to tell her; no way that would hurt any less.

'If Silas has disguised himself as Stefan for an extended period of time, and attempted to blend into his life by convincing Damon and Stephan's friends that he is, in fact, Stefan, then it is part of some master plan Caroline. Silas is as clever as he is ruthless; he would not allow the chance that the real Stefan would turn up. He is dead Caroline. I am sorry.'

She burst into tears; shaking her head in denial.

'No, no, no.' she stood up slowly, her hands trembling as she brought them to her forehead; raking them through her hair as she thought about it; desperately trying to come up with another conclusion; one that would instantly discredit Klaus' theory.

She suddenly seemed to remember he was still there as she turned to glare at him suspiciously. He saw her eyes flash dangerously; her cheeks were flushed and she was beautiful. She looked like an avenging angel. Ripper should be honoured to have a friend like Caroline.

'No, you don't know that! There are a million places he could be!' she screamed at him. 'You know what I think?' She turned wildly to face him; her red cheeks streaked with tears. 'I think you're just saying that so that I give up on him. You hate Stefan; you never forgave him for desiccating you!'

'Caroline.' He growled; she was trying his patience with her denial. He was trying to help her; to protect her, why couldn't she see that?

He paced angrily across the living room; resenting every tear she allowed herself for Stefan. It was like watching her bawl her eyes out over Tyler all over again. He knew she had a large heart, that she extended kindness and friendship to everyone. But she had never extended it to him willingly. Or at least, not for a long long time. That thought, mixed with her devastation over Stefan filled him with bitter resentment.

'No!' she cried, raising her voice as anger and grief took over; tears dripping from her face. She had that determined look on her face; the one that meant they were about to fall out.

'Don't _Caroline_ me! Why are you so keen to give up on him?' she screamed, glaring at him, her face a mixture of rage, despair and disappointment. 'That's your problem Klaus; you give up on everybody the second they disappoint you! Don't think I didn't notice that you just left Rebekah behind!'

'You're out of line Caroline. Just drop it. I have told you what I think; if you can't deal with it like an adult-' he growled at her, his voice shaking with fury, as she interrupted him.

'_I'm_ not dealing with this like an adult? _Me_? You're the one who wants to write Stefan off because he wouldn't be your best friends with you anymore! You're the one that needs to grow up!' she huffed, her cheeks ablaze.

God he hated her sometimes. It was so easy to forget that she was just a fucking child. _This_ was how she was going to deal with this? By trying to think of reasons why he would pretend that Stefan was dead. By thinking of reasons why he was the bad guy in this situation. Like always.

He knew that she had already lost Bonnie, and he knew that doubling her grief would be a lot for her to deal with. The part of him that wanted to be a better man; knew this. But the beast in him was beyond furious with her. His patience had run out; she'd pushed him too far.

'You want to know exactly how I know that your precious Stefan is dead Caroline?' he purred to her in a sickly sweet, overly friendly voice that dripped venom. 'Because it's what _I_ would have done.'

She flinched, and the anger drained from her face. Instead she looked slightly afraid. Of him.

Her eyes were wide and she backed off a step when he strode towards her. As though for the first time since she'd started screaming at him; she remembered who he really was. He knew he should back off; that he should apologise; but it was too late for that. And she needed to understand the threat Silas presented; no matter what the cost.

He moved so close that he could feel her body trembling as she tried to get a handle on her emotions. He heard her take a sharp breath as he leant in, putting his mouth so close to her ear, that his lips brushed her skin.

'Silas is a monster Caroline, just like me. He will kill, he will maim and he will torture. If you get in his way he will kill everyone you have ever met and make you watch. He will do _anything_ to get what he wants. I know this because there was a time when I would have done all of those things and more to get what I wanted. _That's_ how I know that Stefan is dead; he was a threat, and monsters don't allow threats to keep on living.' He explained to her, his voice low and hard as granite.

She slapped him. Really fucking hard.

It was the very last thing he expected.

She was breathing heavily. He'd never seen her look so furious.

He shouldn't be surprised really; he knew he'd crossed a line.

He brought a hand up to his cheek; which still stung. He didn't know what on earth to say. On the one hand; he should rip her head off. _No one_ had ever struck him and lived. On the other hand; she was the bravest little thing he had ever met; and he thought he might love her even more.


	4. Chapter 4

Her hand still stung painfully from striking him so hard. Caroline felt sick to her stomach as she suddenly realised what she had done. She felt her tear-filled eyes go wide. She had always known that there would be a point where he pushed her so far that she would forget who she was dealing with and treat him like she would any other man in her life; she just hadn't thought it would happen today. He had made her so angry. He had gone too far; as he always did.

A gnawing fear spread across her stomach. He was going to kill her. She saw the immediate anger spark in his stormy blue eyes; his mouth set in that grim frown of his, as he turned his face back towards her. He looked quietly surprised. That wasn't good. If she knew anything about him; it was that he didn't handle surprise well. He didn't handle insolence particularly well either.

She was still so furious with him she was shaking. How dare he say those things to her? She was so sick of him thinking he could pull that 'big bad wolf' thing on her. _Yes_, he was the most powerful being on the planet, _yes_, he was a thousand years old and _yes_, he could rip her to shreds if he so desired. But she would _not_ allow him to be an obnoxious pig! He was still a man, and she was still a woman, and he really needed to start treating her with some respect. She wasn't going to hold her breath waiting for that to happen.

She was breathing heavily, trying to control her anger and ignore her survival instincts that were screaming at her to run as fast as she could away from the angry original hybrid.

He opened his mouth to, presumably, yell at her; at the same time she opened hers to quickly defend her actions. They were both interrupted.

The double doors that lead into the apartment shot open, banging loudly against both walls. Both she and Klaus whipped around to see who would dare burst into Niklaus Mikaelson's home uninvited.

There Elijah stood. Looking majestic and perfect, he stood still as a marble statue in the doorway; his arms folded and a deep frown carved into his handsome face. He radiated rage; Caroline could sense it from here. She felt a shiver flash up her spine as though every fibre of her being knew that she was in the presence of ancient monsters.

Klaus growled audibly, and moved to stand in front of her with his arms folded. Whether he was doing it to protect her, or to hide her from Elijah, she had no idea.

'I hope you have every intention of having those walls re-painted brother.' Klaus spat, sarcasm and annoyance dripping from every word.

Elijah was clearly an unwanted guest. Caroline felt a little thankful and a little guilty that it looked like Elijah was about to take the brunt of the bad mood that _she_ had put Klaus in.

'I think we have more pressing matters to discuss than interior design; wouldn't you say so Niklaus?' Elijah responded smoothly, his tone softly venomous. Apparently Klaus was pissing everybody off today.

Klaus scowled deeply at Elijah's words, ignoring him completely. His eyes flicked to Caroline briefly and then back to his brother. She wasn't sure, but she could have sworn he'd looked nervous for a second as he looked at her. _That's weird_ she thought, her brow wrinkling as she puzzled at the look she'd seen pass his face; it had almost looked like like he'd been _afraid_ of her. Clearly whatever Elijah wanted to talk to Klaus about was putting the hybrid on edge.

Caroline had never had much to do with Klaus' older brother, but she had always suspected that Elijah was perhaps the most dangerous of all the originals. At least you knew where you stood with Klaus.

Elijah was polite, and well dressed, and outwardly, he appeared some-what kind compared to his siblings. But close up, his eyes were like cold steel and she knew that he had the potential to be just as brutal as Klaus or Kol or Rebekah. But of course Elijah was far more subtle; he could be very human when he wanted to be; Caroline had seen him act so with Elena.

Elijah made his way into the apartment, gliding smoothly from the doorway over to Klaus' liquor cabinet with more grace than Caroline could ever hope for. She thought that he deliberately decided to not close the front doors behind him. The Originals and their power struggles. She rolled her eyes impatiently. What was she supposed to do now; stand around while the two brothers had their pissing contest?

'Miss Forbes,' Elijah greeted her with a nod. She flinched at the sudden sound of her name. She had assumed the older Original barely even know who she was. 'How nice to see you in Louisiana.'

She cleared her throat uncertainly, wringing her hands together. It was a nervous habit.

'It's nice to see you too Elijah.' She answered politely, in a stiff voice; not really knowing if that was the correct thing to say. It was suddenly dawning on her that she had completely lost sight of who Klaus really was. She should be just as terrified of him as she was of Elijah right now; they were both Original assholes. But no, he'd chipped away at her until she found herself able to see him as a man and not a monster. Damn him.

'Caroline love, why don't you go and get some rest in one of the bedrooms.'

She flinched again when Klaus touched her arm gently as he spoke. She hadn't even noticed that he'd moved closer to her. She wrenched her arm from his gentle fingers as she remembered how angry she still was with him. She saw sadness in his eyes briefly, but he soon hardened his face against her angry glare and glared back at her.

'Klaus...' she bit out warningly. She hated it when he used that 'the adults are talking now sweetie' voice on her.

He sighed, as though he was genuinely tired of arguing with her. That made her even more annoyed with him. Ugh, he'd started it! Saying all that awful stuff about Stefan!

Her stomach sank. What with Elijah's sudden arrival, she'd almost forgotten that Klaus was almost one hundred percent sure that her best friend was dead... She felt her throat start to tighten painfully. She would not cry in front of the world's oldest vampires.

'Please Love,' Klaus said sweetly, but she could hear the threatening undertone in his voice. He wanted to talk to his brother; that was fine with her. She didn't even want to look at him anymore anyway.

'Fine.' She snapped at him, blinking hard to keep her tears at bay.

She saw his face soften with concern as he took in how upset she still was. He caught her arm in his hand and pulled her back to him as she was about to flounce off.

'Caroline,' he murmured softly in her ear. 'We will talk again later.' He bit his lip. 'Maybe I am wrong...' she knew he didn't believe that. It made her hate him even more that he could be so kind and gentle when he wanted to be.

'Don't!' she rasped. Her voice was hoarse as she tried to control her emotions. She ripped her arm from his hands again, and shot off in the direction of the nearest bedroom. She didn't even look to see Elijah's reaction to all of this; not that she could have seen it, the room was a sparkling haze as she tried to see through unshed tears.

She snatched up her bag from where she'd left it earlier on the sofa and shoved her way into the first door she came to. God damn it; it was a bathroom not a bedroom.

Caroline didn't care; she just needed to be away from those stormy blue eyes. She slammed the door shut loudly; just to make clear to him exactly how angry she was with him. Screw him anyway! What did he know about Silas? He turned his back on Mystic Falls before Silas had even been put down; he walked away from them when they needed his help the most; he'd left her, in danger, after always making her feel like somehow, he would always be there to rescue her. He was such an asshole!

Caroline kicked her bag hard, launching it across the bathroom. It crashed into the huge bathtub, clanging loudly. A sob broke from her lips and she fell to her knees on the beautiful grey slate tiles of the bathroom.

Stefan couldn't be gone. He couldn't. Not after Bonnie...

She pulled her knees to her chest and leant against the side of the bathtub. She pressed her hot flushed face to the cold surface, trying to feel something other than the consuming anguish that came from her vampire senses overwhelming her with emotions.

If Silas had taken Stefan's form, there had to be a reason right? Before, Silas had taken on all of their forms, but only as and when he required them; he had never actually _lived_ as one of them before. There must be something special about Stefan, something he _needed_ from Stefan... so that could mean that Stefan was still alive? Right?

She sobbed again as she realised she was desperately clutching at straws. She had thought about the Silas/Stefan situation over and over on the flight; all the way to New Orleans. It had never once occurred to her that Stefan could be dead, but now... it all made a horrible amount of sense. Klaus was right; Silas was a monster...

She burst into loud, sorrowful tears, pressing her face into her knees and rocking her body. God, two of her best friends were dead and Caroline hadn't done a thing to save either of them. She hadn't even known what was happening until it was too late! She was the worst person in the world.

She could hear Klaus having a muted conversation with his brother in the other room. As she allowed the grief to crash over her and consume her in waves all she could think of was how she had come here expecting him to make it better. Instead he'd made things a thousand times worse. As he always did.

She really needed to start learning from her mistakes.

* * *

The room had been silent since Caroline had slammed the bathroom door shut. They could both hear her soft cries of grief.

Klaus ached to go to her; but he knew that would be the exact opposite of helpful. And his pride would not allow him to do so in front of Elijah; his brother had already seen too much.

'What did you say to the poor girl, may I ask?' Elijah asked, with what Klaus considered to be an obscene amount of amusement in his tone.

'Stefan Salvatore is dead.' Klaus snapped at his brother, keeping his voice low. His bathroom walls were unfortunately, not thick enough, for him to converse with his brother at a normal volume.

His brother's eyes widened slightly, and then his face went back to his usual mask of cool impassiveness. Contrary to what most people might think; Klaus knew that that was quite a reaction from his controlled older brother.

'How?' Elijah asked him, his eyes hard.

_Ahh, Elena._ Klaus realised. _That's_ what had gotten the reaction out of Elijah; he was worried about that precious doppelganger bitch. Again.

His brother liked to think that he was all honour and reason; but Klaus thought Elijah to be exceptionally stupid sometimes. Making the mistake of falling for Katerina was one thing, but to make the same mistake again five hundred years later? How Elijah could be so intelligent and yet so ridiculously _un_intelligent at the same time was a mystery to Klaus.

'Elena doesn't know.' He replied with the same smug amusement in his tone that his brother had used only moment ago to mock Klaus' situation.

'But Caroline clearly does.' His brother bit back, barely hiding his emotions. '_How_, Niklaus?' Elijah asked again, with far less patience.

'Silas.' Klaus spat. 'You know, the immortal bastard that you wouldn't allow me to destroy, when you allowed yourself to be ruled by our sister's pathetic dream of a white picket fence!'

Elijah was silent, as ever not rising to Klaus' bait. He absorbed that information; and then seemed to move on immediately.

'I came here to talk about-' Elijah began.

Klaus flashed over to where his brother was standing and shoved him into the wall. More of his plaster cracked as he smashed his brother's shoulders against the wall none too gently.

'Not a _word_ here. Do you understand me brother?' he whispered, his gaze boring into his brother's eyes, his voice low and deadly.

Elijah shoved him back. Klaus allowed himself to be propelled backwards a few steps. He had no real desire to hurt his brother; but he needed to reiterate how deadly fucking serious he was that Caroline need not know about the Hayley situation.

'I understand you perfectly Niklaus.' Elijah shot a look towards the door that Caroline had slammed shut earlier. 'I had no idea you were capable of such... feelings.'

Klaus rolled his eyes and stalked over to the cabinet to pour himself some strong bourbon. He too knew when not to rise to his brother's bait. He knocked back his drink sulkily, and waited while his brother straightened his suit and flicked bits of flaked plaster from his shoulders. The very last thing he had wanted was for Elijah to discover his fondness for Caroline, it was sure to cause him grief at some point.

'That aside brother, the _situation_ requires your immediate attention.' Elijah stated seriously. 'The witches have more... requests.' He finished, sarcastically.

Klaus felt his headache coming back. He really, really wanted to fucking eat someone.

'Tell me that you are joking?' he muttered angrily. He had to keep reminding himself that the blood of Sophie Devereaux would be the first fresh blood he would gorge himself on once this baby was born.

'I wish I were. Had you responded to my calls last night, I am sure the situation would have perhaps resolved itself by now. But as it stands now, they believe you to be ignorant of their desires. And they are threatening consequences.' Elijah told him.

Klaus clenched his jaw tightly and ground his fists into the worktop. Just fucking wonderful. More demands from the witches.

This _had_ to end soon; or he was going to end up killing them all and inadvertently ending the life of his unborn child. Perhaps it was time for a _renegotiation_ with the witches. They needed to remember exactly who they were dealing with.

'I will deal with this.' He said darkly.

'I trust you to deal with it peacefully Niklaus, need I remind you what is at stake here?' Elijah looked at him expectantly.

Klaus nodded tightly, not wishing to discuss the matter in the same _city_ as Caroline, never mind the same apartment. The thought of Caroline made him think of something else he'd rather not have discussed with his brother, but had to, none the less.

He walked over to the wall and reached for his coat to buy himself some time. There was no way to ask his brother this favour without confirming Elijah's suspicions... But her safety was more important than his pride.

Reluctantly, he turned back to his brother, and forced out through clenched teeth. 'Elijah, I require you to stay here and watch over Caroline.'

His brother raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything; forcing Klaus to explain himself. The bastard.

'I would prefer it if no one but you and I know that she is in New Orleans. I don't believe her to be safe, when it comes to Marcel, _or_ the witches.' He muttered; cursing the day his brother had been born.

This was probably a moment Elijah had waiting a thousand years for; he'd been begging Klaus to allow himself to feel for centuries. Klaus resented Elijah bitterly for forcing him to admit that he cared enough to want Caroline protected.

Elijah simply nodded; like it was no big deal at all; and sat down on the couch after pulling one of Klaus' Shakespeare volumes off of the bookshelf.

Klaus stalked out of the apartment, fuming. His brother really was a smug bastard.

* * *

When Caroline opened her eyes, she didn't remember where she was. Not just because she was in a different state now; but because she was no longer in the bathroom she'd closed her eyes in.

She sat up, rubbing her sore, tired eyes, and took in her surroundings. She was tucked into one of the most comfortable beds she'd ever slept in; in a large and beautiful room she didn't recognise. But from the grand and masculine decor, she had to assume that she was still in Klaus' apartment.

She glanced around suspiciously; quickly finding herself relieved that this was _not_ indeed Klaus' bedroom. _That_ would have been slightly too complicated for her to deal with. There was too much empty space in here for the room to be anything more than a guest bedroom; and she could see through the open wardrobe door, that there were no clothes hung in there.

He must have carried her from the bathroom when she had fallen asleep and brought her into here. That thought both annoyed her _and_ made her feel slightly guilty about the hateful things she had thought about him before. Ugh, she hated it when he made her feel all confused! Which is what he'd been _trying_ to do since the day they met.

Her body ached as she stretched it out; and she was starving. A quick glance out of the window told her it must be at least midday; the sun was high in the sky.

She padded over to the door, and pressed her ear next to the gap; not really a necessity with vampire hearing; but Caroline had found it hard to shift many of her inbuilt human habits. She could no longer hear Elijah talking to Klaus; he must have left. She could only hear the soft turning of a page every few minutes or so.

She bit her lip; on the one hand it was going to be a bit awkward going out there after she had slapped him across the face. On the other hand she didn't give a shit; he'd deserved that, and she would tell him so. And she was hungry.

She opened the door softly and walked at silently as she could back in the direction of the kitchen. She froze stock still when she saw Elijah sat there on the couch. She made an embarrassing little squeak sound and then prayed to God he hadn't heard her.

_Now what?_ She whined to herself. Elijah was terrifying; there was no way she could go and sit in there with him. Her only option was to sneak back to bed. Where the hell was Klaus anyway?

'There is no need to fear me Miss Forbes, let me reassure you of that.' Elijah said, without so much as looking up from his book. She flinched again, at the sound of her name coming from his mouth.

His eyes flicked up from the book to her face. She was well and truly busted; there would be no silent retreat back to the bedroom after all. She had no choice but to man up, and deal with the situation.

'I'm not-' she started to snipe.

'Yes you are.' He replied, smiling a soft and inviting smile that she would never have expected to see on his coolly composed face. 'But it is a healthy fear I am sure; for all of my siblings are not as... approachable as me.'

Caroline couldn't help herself; she scoffed. Then she immediately wanted to die because she'd just scoffed at an original vampire.

'I am aware you may not believe me; but you really have nothing to fear. Come, sit.' He pointed at the sofa across from him. 'Niklaus had some food delivered for you. When I heard you stirring, I heated it up.'

So he'd heard her getting up? She'd never had any chance of escaping his notice. That thought was frightening, but not as frightening as the prospect of sitting across from him and eating. She gulped. _Man up Caroline _she berated herself; forcing her legs to propel her forwards and into the room.

On the table was a large glass of blood. She could smell it now; it was B positive; her favourite. Damn Klaus and his annoying habit of making her feel looked after. Every time, just when she'd decided that he couldn't be redeemed, he's pull something sweet like this. At least, she thought it was sweet...

'Where did that blood come from?' she squeaked, nervously.

Elijah chuckled, and she swore she'd never seen that before either. There was something really different about the Originals now they were in New Orleans.

'Niklaus mentioned that you are a blood bag drinker by choice. I believe he had it collected from a blood drive that's taking place on Rue De Ville. He asked me to reassure you that he simply had an orderly paid; and that no one was hurt.'

'Oh. Good.' She replied, feeling a bit stupid. Elijah must think it strange that she would choose to drink from blood bags rather than people. It was an odd thought really; it was something that she always expected Klaus to just accept about her; that she didn't kill for blood. But when presenting the idea to someone like Elijah; she suddenly felt... not vampire enough. But whatever, screw him. She was _not_ a killer. Most of the time anyway.

She had to remind herself that Elijah hadn't so much as looked at her like he was judging her; and that she was being ridiculous. She forced herself to sit down and take a sip from the glass. It was the perfect temperature and it was deliciously fresh Klaus had really gotten her a treat. No, Klaus was stupid, she was still angry with Klaus.

'I suspect that this is my brother's way of apologising to you.' He looked at her from over the pages of his book; his face giving nothing away.

Her eyes widened in surprise. Not only was this the most she had ever heard Elijah talk; and not only was he being scarily nice to her all of a sudden; but he was actually talking to her about Klaus? Weird.

'He...' she sighed and leaned back into the couch, taking her huge glass of blood with her. 'He told me the truth. I just wasn't ready to hear it.' Embarrassingly, her voice cracked a little as she admitted it aloud for the first time; that Stefan must be gone.

Elijah was silent. He just looked at her curiously. It was like he was studying her; like for the first time since he'd arrived in Mystic Falls, she was now, for some reason, important enough to require his study. It made her want to squirm. There must be something about being one thousand years old that made you totally, and moronically rude.

She raised her eyebrows with just a little bit of attitude, to let him know that he'd been staring at her for too long and that she didn't appreciate it. He smirked slightly. It was just a twitch at the corner of his mouth, but it was enough to make him look just like his brother.

'My brother is an exceptional artist. With a paintbrush; he can create great works of exquisite beauty. But he is not so skilled when it comes to being human.' Elijah leaned back into his seat, closing his book and resting it on his lap. 'But you Miss Forbes; might be the first person to get anything close to an apology from Niklaus in several centuries.'

'You can call me Caroline.' She muttered, too unsettled to meet his steady gaze. She didn't really know what else to say to that; so she just nodded slightly and took another sip of her blood.

She felt the colour returning to her cheeks finally; and she realised that felt better here, in the original hybrid's living room, than she had at home in weeks. Since the news of Bonnie's death she'd barely been able to eat anything; food or blood. And she hadn't slept; every time she closed her eyes she saw Bonnie's face. This morning's nap had been the first uninterrupted sleep she'd had in weeks.

'Wait, did you-' she blurted, not thinking before she opened her mouth. Being in the presence of Elijah made her feel like an uncouth idiot.

He waited patiently, his face a welcoming picture of patience and kindness, that Caroline couldn't quite find it in herself to believe in. It was just like looking at Klaus' face; serene and beautiful on the outside, the Original brothers could be mistaken for angels; but there was a thousand years of darkness in their souls and she needed to remember that they could never be completely trusted.

'When did Klaus leave?' she tried phrasing her question differently this time.

'_I_ was the one who carried you from the bathroom to the guest bedroom Caroline. You must forgive me for the intrusion; but when I found you, you were on the slate floor. That couldn't have been comfortable, even for a vampire.' He answered her, as though he'd known the whole time what she'd been getting at.

She hated that; Klaus did it too. Just because he'd been around for like, _ever_, didn't give him the right to be a smug smarty pants all the time. She was beginning to think that Elijah might be even worse than Klaus. Klaus was wildly emotional and responded only to his own desires, whereas Elijah seemed to be quite the opposite; he seemed very skilled in the art of understanding other people's emotions, and responding to them accordingly.

'Oh,' was all she could think to say. 'Thanks.'

'You're welcome. Please, drink more; you look tired.' He said, turning back to his book as though the conversation was over, and that this hadn't been one of the strangest occurrences in Caroline's young life. Why the hell was he being so nice to her?

And what the hell? Elijah gently lifting her and carrying her into a bedroom next door, was _not_ an image she could conjure in her mind. It was the exact opposite of everything she'd ever heard about him. And she refused to believe what Elena said about Elijah's honour. In Caroline's opinion; he hadn't been particularly honourable on the day he'd deliberately trapped Elena down in the tunnels with Rebekah.

She toyed with her glass, as Elijah slowly turned the pages of his book; seemingly completely unaware of her existence. She had no idea what to do or say; so she fidgeted, and she fiddled, she sipped her blood. She was just contemplating faking tiredness to go back to bed when Klaus burst through the doors; once again allowing them to smack on the walls. Clearly neither of them gave a crap about the plastering.

She felt a wave of relief crash over her; thank god he was back; he needed to rescue her from his brother's surprisingly pleasant, yet still terrifying company. But she soon swallowed that relief when she saw the look on his face; he was furious.

'Brother.' Elijah greeted Klaus without looking up from his book.

Klaus greeted him back by throwing a garment bag across his brother's lap; bending the pages of Elijah's little book. Elijah scowled softly, and extricated his book from underneath the bag, folding it gently at his side. He glanced down at the bag as he slid down the zipper; they all did.

'A new suit brother? You shouldn't have.' Elijah answered wryly, arching an eyebrow at the expensive looking suit that peeked out of the top of the bag.

'I didn't.' Klaus growled so lowly and angrily, that Caroline thought she could hear the wolf in him. '_Marcel_ did. It was hung outside the front door.' He spat. 'As were these.'

He threw down two more garment bags; and a beautiful, embossed ivory invitation. She could just make out the words 'In honour of my sire...' on the invite.

Klaus turned to Caroline for the first time he had walked in.

'There's one for you too love.' He said sweetly, but she could hear the strain in his voice. Whatever was written on that invitation; Klaus clearly wasn't happy about taking her there. And if he wasn't happy; that probably meant that bad shit was going down. And that usually meant _really_ bad things for her.

'No Klaus.' She complained, sulkily swallowing more blood. 'Who ever this Marcel guy is, you sound pretty damn unhappy that he bought you a suit. I'm not going anywhere.'

'Ahh but you havn't seen the dress yet sweetheart.' He smiled at her, flashing his dimples. Almost like he knew that they inexplicably softened her, every time he flashed them at her. For a second, his eyes were free of anger, and he looked genuinely pleased to show her the dress.

But she couldn't get swept up in this. New Orleans was _his_ town; not hers. She had to get back to Mystic Falls anyway to deal with this Silas situation. She wasn't about to start swanning off to fancy parties with him.

She raised her eyebrows delicately; eyeing the garment bag as though it were made from vervain. The whole thing set her teeth on edge. He clearly didn't want to go; why was he making her go with him?

'Klaus, I have told you, I'm not going on anymore dates with you.' She snapped. She would not be used as anyone's puppet; she had decided that a long time ago.

'You're not going on a date with _me_ sweetheart.' He snapped back at her, his voice sharp edged and sarcastic. 'You'll be going on a date with _Elijah_.'

Her heart sank at about the same speed that her mouth fell open.


	5. Chapter 5

'Caroline's presence in the French Quarter has not gone unnoticed.' Elijah acknowledged; his voice hard.

'It would seem so.' Klaus sneered spitefully. He paced furiously in front of the fireplace. He looked so tense; it baffled her as to why an invitation to a party was making him so angry. The lean muscles of his arms and chest were coiled like steel wire under the tight surface of his thin Henley shirt. He had his jaw clenched so firmly she was surprised he hadn't broken his teeth.

Even though everyone thought she was just a dumb 'Barbie' blonde, Caroline was actually quite perceptive. After all; she'd never have become captain of the cheerleading squad without the ability to spot an ulterior motive from 25 yards.

The brothers were discussing the situation like she _wasn't_ sat in the room with them; but that didn't matter. She was so used to Klaus avoiding her questions and forever keeping her on a 'need to know' basis that she'd learnt to pick up information from what he _wasn't_ saying. She figured the same would apply to Klaus's equally secretive and evasive brother as she studied him from where she was sat opposite him.

She could sense the anger simmering underneath Elijah's cool exterior. The fact that he kept his anger burning under the surface made him all the more unnerving. And even though she didn't know him very well, she was beginning to get the feeling that Elijah was extending the protection he usually reserved for his family; to her as well. That's why he'd been so nice to her before. Which meant he'd already discovered how Klaus... felt about her.

On the one hand it was kind of sweet that he was so angry that this guy Marcel had sent a creepy, threatening invitation with her name on it. On the other hand; getting more involved with the Originals than she already was, was pretty much the last thing she needed.

'Klaus, what's going on?' she asked, trying to catch his eye as he paced across the room.

He ignored her completely.

'He's having you followed again.' Elijah stated. He ran his finger down the silk tie that hung inside the garment bag on top of his brand new suit. It was not a question.

'I was not careful enough.' Klaus growled, finally coming to a stop in front of where she was sat and fixing her with a meaningful look. 'A mistake I will _not_ be making again.' His voice was soft now; carefully guarded as always, but she heard the concern in his voice.

She refused to meet his gaze. She was far too infuriated with him. Why the hell did he think he had the right to decide what she was allowed to know and what she wasn't? And why wouldn't he tell her what was going on? She stubbornly looked down at her hands and fiddled with the empty glass of blood.

No; he didn't get to act all worried about her now. This whole thing was starting to set her teeth on edge. If there was someone out there who had the nerve to have _Klaus_ followed... She didn't want to meet them. And yet; it seemed that that was exactly what Klaus wanted her to do. Even though he hadn't even _asked_ her, or explained _anything_ to her!

When he looked away she sneaked a peek at both of them; trying to figure out what it was that they weren't telling her. Elijah still looked quietly furious; but she had no idea what he was thinking; he hadn't even blinked when Klaus had informed him that he was taking Caroline to this thing as his date.

Klaus on the other hand had a clear look on his face that, to her at least, always seemed to mean that her questions were not at all welcome. He could go screw himself; she was so done waiting for an explanation.

'Elijah, I will need you to-' Klaus began. _Again_, acting like she wasn't sat, _right there_, in the room with him.

'_Excuse_ me,' Caroline snarled irritably, interrupting the hybrid without the least concern as to what he would think. 'Who the _hell_ is Marcel? And _why _exactly, do I need to go on a date with your brother?'

Klaus half sighed, half growled in frustration and obstinately didn't say anything. He looked as though the very thought of sharing anything with her was repugnant. She felt her blood begin to boil; he was such an unbelievable jerk. That was it. She so had better things to do.

'Fine,' she spat furiously. She stood up quickly, cursing her fair skin, as she felt her cheeks flush in anger. She hated anything that gave away how much he got under her skin. 'It was nice to see you again Elijah. Klaus, I am going home. Right now. '

She stalked out of the living room without so much as a glance at the original butt-head.

She could hear him stomping furiously after her. She made it almost halfway through the kitchen before he snatched her arm, swiftly but gently, and whirled her back around to face him. She could see how angry he was; his eyes were a dark, dark blue; like a stormy sea. He looked frustrated and unsure of himself as he looked into her eyes and she felt a dull pang of fear in the bottom of her stomach. When Klaus was unsure of himself; bad things usually followed.

As she looked at him properly, for the first time since she'd flung herself into his arms at the airport; she could see how exhausted he was. It was something she'd ever seen on his annoyingly perfect face before. It made her wonder what the hell had been going on in New Orleans that he wasn't telling her.

'Caroline.' He growled under his breath. 'Will you just, _for once_, do as I ask? It is not safe for you to leave.'

She blinked. _What?_ She'd been in New Orleans for _half a day_. Even for her, that was _not_ enough time to get into trouble.

Her stomach sank. In a lot of ways; she'd always blamed Mystic Falls for all the bad things that had happened to her in the last couple of years. She'd always believed that when she finally got out of that murky little town; she would be safe. But apparently the problem had been _her_ all along; _she_ was the danger magnet.

Unless... Suspicion seeped into her veins as she glared at the man who had always claimed to love her.

'Seriously?' she snapped, 'Is this some half-assed ploy to get me to stay here with you?' She asked him directly, folding her arms across her chest crossly. She held tightly onto the fact that he had always been honest with her.

'No.' He snarled, clearly offended by the question.

Right, fine, she believed him. But she was still angry.

'Then how the hell have you managed to put me in danger already? I've been here for, like, five hours Klaus!' She yelled at him, stabbing him in the chest with a pointed finger to emphasise how annoyed she was. Seriously, how had this happened? She was so going to end up kidnapped and tortured by the end of the day.

'You put yourself in danger Caroline; you always do! You are the one who just showed up in New Orleans, completely uninvited, with no idea what you could be walking into!' he snapped, his voice as sharp as a razor.

'Well, if I'm so _unwelcome_, you won't mind if I leave then. Will you?' she stomped her foot and wished she could make his head explode with the force of her glare.

'If you even think for a second-' Klaus began to yell at her.

Elijah cleared his throat. 'Niklaus.'

Klaus bit off his angry retort, closed his eyes and took a deep breath at the sound of his brother's voice. He had clearly forgotten that Elijah there.

If she knew Klaus, he was undoubtedly furious that he'd allowed another to witness just how much Caroline got away with. Caroline had always known that she spoke and acted in a way that would get anyone else killed; arguing with the original hybrid was usually an offence that got your spine removed from your body. Klaus demanded respect from Elijah in the same way he demanded it from every other being on the planet. He was probably already plotting ways to make Elijah forget what he'd just seen.

Caroline felt a little bit smug. _Good, _she thought vehemently. She hoped it took him _hours_ to explain himself out of this.

'Caroline.' Elijah murmured softly, taking her elbow gently and guiding her back to the couch and away from Klaus; who was clearly having to bite his tongue to stop himself from yelling at her some more. Even though she allowed Elijah to steer her away from her confrontation with Klaus, she shot a pointed glare at the hybrid over Elijah's shoulder. That conversation was _not_ over.

This was typical Klaus. Why could he never just be honest with her about what was going on?

'I want to know what's going on, _right now_, Elijah.' She demanded, swallowing her fear, and addressing Elijah in the same way she would Klaus. Elijah was an unknown factor; but he had been kind to her so far; and she was pretty sure that Elijah would respect a person who stood up for themselves. She was prepared to gamble that she wasn't in any immediate danger.

Elijah raised his eyebrows at her demand but didn't rip hear head immediately off her shoulders; so she supposed that was something. She blushed slightly at the look on his face. He probably thought she was being a petulant child. It was alright for them though; _they_ were indestructible.

'Please?' she added, completely wimping out. Elijah was just too hard to read; he wasn't an emotional wrecking ball like Klaus. It was so easy to tell when she had pushed Klaus too far, but with Elijah it was impossible; all his emotion lay buried under the calm, controlled persona he wore on the outside. And with his hand, a hand that could snap her in half with very little effort, still resting gently around her elbow, she felt pretty nervous.

'Niklaus, just tell the girl what's going on. If she is uninformed, it could put in her in even more danger than she is already in. I presume you are set on attending this party; you cannot send her in unprepared.' Elijah reasoned, talking to Klaus, but looking at Caroline again, as though he was studying her.

Klaus huffed in annoyance, and thumped his fist down on the kitchen counter in frustration. Caroline resisted the urge to smirk under the circumstances, but she did enjoy seeing that now _he_ was being the petulant child.

'Fine.' He snapped, stalking back over to the living room to sit in the seat across from where Caroline and Elijah sat. He sat, without caring, on the edge of the garment bag containing Elijah's suit. Elijah frowned, but didn't say anything.

'Marcel is my protégé. Do you know what that means?' he asked darkly.

She nodded. She did. Technically she was Damon's. The thought alone made her want to throw up.

'When Mikael forced my siblings and me from our home here, I left Marcel behind.' She saw him clench his fists by his sides. 'In my absence he has flourished. He calls himself the King.'

Completely without meaning to; she rolled her eyes. Marcel sounded like an asshole.

Klaus must have noticed her expression, as he smirked slightly; the first sign of a smile on his face she'd seen since he'd burst in with the invitation.

'Now I have returned to New Orleans, this city will be mine. Marcel knows this; and he fights me at every turn. It would be easy for me to kill him; he is but a century old. Unfortunately he has gained a lot of supernatural support in his century here; and he has _something_ on the witches...' Klaus trailed off, preoccupied by exactly _what_ Marcel must have on the witches, she assumed.

'Right, fine, but why does that mean I'm suddenly in danger? I only arrived here this morning, how does he even know I'm here? _And_ how the hell does he know my dress size?' she squeaked indignantly; eyeing up the unopened garment bag which still sat on the coffee table where Klaus had left it.

Her question had caused Klaus to grip onto the edge of the coffee table so hard that the wood whined and splintered. So it was Elijah who answered her question.

'Marcel has been having Niklaus followed. _That_ is how he knows you are here. And now that he does-'

'_Now that he does_,' Klaus interrupted angrily, 'We will be doing everything in our power to make sure he sees that you are of no importance to me whatsoever.'

Her eyes widened. Wow, that actually hurt.

'Because if Marcel believes that you are anything at all to me Sweetheart,' Klaus continued, softer, perhaps noticing that he'd said the wrong thing. 'He will try to use you against me. He will hurt you.'

She swallowed hard and fiddled with her fingers.

'What makes you so sure that he would hurt me?' she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She hoped that it was fear causing the strain on her throat and not the tiny bit of hurt she had felt when Klaus had claimed that she wasn't important to him.

'Because I made him in my image Caroline.' He murmured, his voice deadly serious.

She had to take a second before she realised that she heard _shame_ in his words. She looked at him; his hands were clasped around the seat of the sofa, and he was leaning forward slightly, tension radiating off of him. He looked at her in a way that made her feel sad; it was a way that he'd looked at her so many times before; he was preparing himself for her to reject him again.

But she wouldn't, not this time, not for this. He had done terrible things yes, but he wasn't responsible for Marcel's acts of terror too. Caroline knew as well as anyone, that you had a choice in exactly what kind of vampire you wanted to be. Marcel had clearly chosen to be a monster.

She just nodded, trying to keep her face clear of all judgement. There weren't a lot of times that she was willing to give Klaus a break, so she hoped he damn well remembered this one; the next time he got angry with her for judging his actions.

'Why can't I just go home?' she asked, in a voice that she hoped didn't betray just how sick to death she was of constantly being in danger.

She saw Klaus' fingers twitch in a way that made her think he'd thought for a second, about reaching for her hand. The thought filled her with a warm feeling that she quickly shoved to the back of her mind. She distracted herself by wondering if Elijah had noticed Klaus' involuntary movement too, and what he thought about it. Nothing seemed to escape Elijah.

Klaus didn't seem to want to answer that question; his mouth was pressed so tightly shut that his raspberry coloured lips were turning white. Elijah stepped in again.

'Marcel would have you followed back to Mystic Falls, back to your mother, and your friends.' Elijah said softly, as though he genuinely felt sorry for her. 'Or he would have you brought to him against your will; where he would torture you to find out what you were doing here with Niklaus. You seem to have found yourself right in the middle of a war Miss Forbes.'

She loudly blew out the breath she'd been holding since he'd said the words 'your mother'.

'Are you serious?' she asked, proudly noting that her voice only wobbled slightly.

'I'm sorry Caroline.' Klaus sounded uncharacteristically distraught, deliberately avoiding her gaze as her eyes snapped up at the sound of the first real apology she'd ever heard come out of his mouth. He shot out of his seat like having her eyes on his face was physically hurting him, and went over to lean against the fireplace, his face turned towards the flames and away from her.

She didn't know if it was the fact that the Originals felt sorry for her; or that Klaus was _actually_ sorry... Or whether she'd just finally reached her limit. But she was _not_ about to be a victim again. Klaus had to have a plan; a way to save her. He always did...

_Right, Elijah_. She thought resolutely.

'So; you think that if I go to this party with Elijah, you can make him believe that I'm Elijah's... friend...' she trailed off, hating that she had to put something so embarrassing into words. 'And not yours?'

Klaus turned back to her slowly, his face cast in beautiful shadow from the flames. She couldn't see the expression on his face as he said:

'I'm not going to make him believe anything Sweetheart, _you are_.'

* * *

Klaus sat at the breakfast bar knocking back bourbon like it was oxygen. He was alone in the kitchen. Caroline had gone back into her bedroom to call her mother. Elijah had gone to check on Hayley.

It was ironic really. He'd spent so much time trying to convince her that he could make her happy, that he alone could show her everything the world had to offer; that he would love her like she deserved to be loved.

And yet here he was setting her up with his bloody brother.

Not really of course; but it still made him sick to his stomach knowing that in a few hours, she would be putting that dress on for Elijah.

He was pouring himself another glass when she padded out of the bedroom. He almost smiled when he saw that she'd dug out some of Rebakah's slippers from one of the drawers in there, but his sour mood meant he was unable to force his face into a smile; even for her benefit.

She wondered over to him, her phone still in her hand. Her lashes were wet, he noticed with a sinking heart.

'Was your mother angry?' he asked her quietly, pushing the glass of bourbon towards her. He himself was quite unfamiliar with the concept of having a relationship with a parent; but even after a millennia he could still remember _intimately, _just how upsetting angry words from a mother, or a father, could be.

She snapped up the drink and poured it down her throat in a very un-Caroline kind of way.

'Well not angry exactly... more like confused and a little bit annoyed. I didn't _just_ have to tell her that I'm not coming home for a little while... I also had to tell her that... erm... I'd left in the first place.' She muttered guiltily, her gaze cast to the floor.

'You never...?' he asked incredulously. He'd dealt with the Sheriff before; even _he_ wouldn't have enjoyed being on the receiving end of the lecture Caroline must have just had.

'I _was_ freaking out about Silas at the time!' she answered defensively, furrowing her brow, seemingly angry with him now. 'I couldn't stick around for him to read my mind and then kill everyone I love-'

The buzz of her phone in her hand cut off her tirade. He'd never been more relieved. He didn't think he could argue with her _again_ today. He snatched his glass back from her hand, and filled it again, as she looked down at her phone.

She hesitated for a second, bit her lip, and answered the call.

'Hello Damon,' she almost whispered.

His eyebrows shot up. Why was Damon calling her? He pretended to be looking at his own phone as he listened intently to her phone call.

'Where the hell are you Barbie?' the older, and far less likeable Salvatore snapped. 'The Sheriff just called Elena, begging to know where you are!'

'I...I...' She stuttered in response, looking to him for help. He deliberately didn't look up from his phone; she could handle this.

'I'm waiting for an explanation Blondie...' Damon drawled impatiently. Klaus' fist curled in annoyance on the table top.

'I'm not telling you where I am Damon.' She said flatly.

'Why the hell not? You know what, it doesn't matter. Get your ass back here Caroline; there are things we need to talk about.' Damon demanded.

Caroline chewed her lip and sat down in the chair opposite him.

'Like Silas?' she whispered softly, her blue eyes full of sadness.

'You mean that bullshit you were spouting last night about Stefan? _He's fine_ Caroline, he's right here. He's worried about you and he wants to talk to you-'

Her eyes went wide the same time as he reached over at vampire speed and snatched the phone from her hands; snapping it in half with a flick of his fingers. The pieces of her iPhone fell on the table top noisily.

She scowled at him; huffing out a breath, probably about to whine about the loss of her phone. She had more important things to worry about.

'Silas knows that you know Caroline.' He barked, before she could get a word out.

He could see that she was afraid; her hands were trembling slightly at her sides, and she was taking deep breaths that she didn't need. But he admired her greatly; as she took a few more deep breaths, swallowed hard and turned to face him; her eyes were wide with panic but she kept her voice calm.

'Is he going to hurt them? Klaus! My mom-' her blue eyes swam with fear and concern. As she looked at him imploringly; almost begging him to tell her what she wanted to hear; he felt his heart break for her. She was full of so much love; too much probably. He'd been around so long... he just knew that the world would hurt her.

The truth is; he had no idea what Silas would do to the merry band of renegades in Mystic Falls. All he really had to go on was that only Caroline knew the truth, and she was no longer a threat to Silas.

'Damon doesn't believe you does he?' he asked her. He wanted to reach for her hand again, but he didn't. He didn't know if that would be something she would want. Instead he passed her his half full bourbon glass. She didn't drink it this time, wrinkling her nose delicately at the brown liquid.

She laughed harshly. 'Of course not; he thinks I'm being ridiculous!' She brought her hands up to her face and ran them through her soft buttery hair, as she always did when she was worried.

'Then Silas will be able to read that in Damon's mind. And if Stefan's own brother doesn't believe you then Elena won't believe it either. Ignorance and stupidity will save your friends Caroline.'

She frowned at his choice of adjectives regarding her friends, but a fraction of the panic did fade from her face. She clenched and unclenched her fists in her lap; clearly still worried.

'But we can't just leave them to-' she argued.

'We _won't_,' he interrupted. 'I know that you came here for my help. I promise you that once we get this ridiculous party out of the way, we will figure out a way to protect your friends from Silas.'

'As for your mother,' he continued in the kindest voice he could manage, 'One look at your mother's mind from afar will show Silas that she knows nothing. And hurting her to get you to come back is a waste of his time; Silas is better off if you think that you can never return to Mystic Falls. You're no threat from a thousand miles away.'

'Really?' she asked, chewing her lip as she gave his words some serious thought.

'That's the way I would play it.' He replied, not really knowing if that would comfort her or not.

'But you can't read minds Klaus.' She whined, stubbornly clinging on to her worries.

He smiled his darkest smile as he purred the words: 'But I _am_ an immortal badass.'

She laughed and it was a wonderful sound. So wonderful that he almost forgot to be offended that she was laughing at _him_. He was slightly irked that she seemed more frightened of Silas than him. _Not_ that he wanted her to be frightened... but... a little healthy respect wouldn't go amiss.

'I guess that's true,' she sang in a sweet voice, with a sarcastic smirk on her pretty face that made him think she didn't think that was true at all. 'I just- I feel guilty being here while my mom and my friends might be-'

'Caroline,' he responded quickly, wanting desperately for her to stop worrying about this; she had enough to worry about _here_. 'They will be fine. Call your mother every day if it will make you feel happier; at the first sign that she is worried or in trouble, I will make sure that she is safe.'

Her beautiful face was unreadable as he spoke to her earnestly. 'I ran from Mikael for a thousand years; I know how to keep your mother hidden and protected, if that is what it comes to.'

He gazed at her intently; trying to communicate to her silently that he would do anything for her, _anything_. She knew of course; she always had. Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink and she stared at the table top as she whispered:

'Thank you.'

She looked up for a just second; but it was enough; he caught her eyes with his own. And she smiled at him; not the coy smile she gave him when she was distracting him so her friends could wreak havoc in his life, or the sad smile she gave him when she was trying so hard to convince him to be a better person; but a real smile; it was sweet, open, real.

She looked like she wanted to say something; something important; he could see her gathering up her courage to speak. But when she looked at him like _that_ with her cerulean eyes; Klaus felt too open; too exposed.

He cared for her a great deal; and he wanted her to be his so very, very much. But the way she made him feel... It was dangerous. He took unnecessary risks for her; putting them both in danger. Like the morning he had when he'd saved her from Alaric's torture, only to end up in dire circumstances himself. Like the night he'd wondered into the forest where 12 un-sired hybrids were waiting to kill him; all because her sweet face made him forget to be suspicious. Like this morning, when he'd allowed himself to hold her close to him in public; completely forgetting who could be watching.

This _thing_ between them... the _feelings_ she made him feel... it had been centuries since he'd allowed himself such pleasure. But at the same time as being completely irresistible, Caroline and the heartbreaking hope she represented were completely and utterly terrifying to him.

'You're welcome,' he said quickly, ending the moment between them before she could say anything. 'But _do not_ expect me to extend the same courtesies to Damon Salvatore.'

'Ha, yeah right!' she scoffed, giggling. He loved to watch her smile.

There was a moment of comfortable silence between them. He supposed she must be thinking about her mother. He would give her all the time she needed.

_He_ was stuck in a place between complete happiness and complete despair. On one side of the coin; even though she'd refused his offer of a first class ticket to New Orleans all those months ago; she was finally here, _and_ she was staying put. It couldn't have worked out better for him if he'd planned it himself. Which he hadn't, unfortunately; Marcel discovering her arrival had been the very last thing he'd wanted and _that_ lead him on to the despair.

If Marcel even looked at her in a way that Klaus didn't like; he was a dead man. And that would spark a war that could destroy everything that he'd begun building here a century ago. _And_ it would destroy his alliance with the witches; they really wanted Marcel to suffer first. _And_ that might put his unborn child at risk. _And_ Caroline might find out about said child. _And_ _then_ she might find out about Hayley...

What he really needed was for Caroline to go home, and to come back in about fifty years when he could explain the situation with a little perspective. By then she would have really lived; she would know the world, and what it truly meant to be immortal... and she would hopefully be able to understand what he had done and why he had done it.

But now she was here... the thought of her leaving again was like swallowing razor blades. So he sat there; stuck between happiness and despair; because even that was better than being without her.

'Ugh do you know what I just realised?' she sighed indignantly, breaking the silence with all the grace of a wrecking ball.

'What, love?' he asked, unable to help the smile that graced his lips as he studied the way she sat with her elbows on the table and her head in her hands; looking as ever; the wildly melodramatic teenager she was.

'_Now_ somebody wants to kill me in _two_ states... ' she complained, looking more irritated than scared by the fact.

She huffed and dropped her head to the table with a thump that vibrated through his fingers on the tabletop. '_God_ this must be what it's like to be _you_.'

Oh she thought she was _so_ hilarious.

'Very funny sweetheart.' He grumbled, reaching for the bourbon.

* * *

The dress was exquisite. Not quite the regal perfection of the prom dress Klaus had given her, she thought, or the simple elegance of the dress he'd given her to wear to his family's ball... but it really was something. Especially considering it had been picked out by someone who had never even met her.

It was like it had been made for her; fitting her perfectly. She wanted to be creeped out by the fact that whoever had been stalking her had guessed her body measurements perfectly... but she was too excited about the dress to care.

It was sky blue, beaded in silver, with hand crafted, embroidered flowers sprinkled across the bodice, down the sleeves, and floating down the skirt. The dress was long, and flowing, nipped in across her waist and smoothly tailored across her bottom and legs, flaring out from her thigh in a mermaid style skirt. She'd pinned her hair up into a loose, but elegant bun at the nape of her neck, allowing several curly tendrils of her blonde hair to fall around her face.

She hadn't felt so beautiful in months. As she twirled in front of the floor to ceiling mirror, in this beautiful, stupidly expensive dress, in her gorgeous, luxurious bedroom she was hit with a dose of reality that made her wince. _What the hell_ was she doing?

She plonked herself down on the bed and slumped backwards so that she was staring at the ceiling. She was avoiding reality that's what she was doing.

She could twirl around in all the dresses she liked, hell, she could sit at the kitchen counter teasing Klaus until she was a thousand years old herself; but her complete avoidance of her situation couldn't last forever.

As much as she'd love to lose herself, and allow herself to _for once _just go with the flow; she couldn't. She was Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls. Staying focused was practically her philosophy in life.

She's gotten herself into so much danger, so quickly that she hardly even knew where to start processing it all. She should _never_ have voiced her suspicions to Damon. Of course he was going to tell the freak who wore Stefan's face; as far as he knew; that was still his brother.

And even though Klaus had promised to help her save her friends from Silas; she didn't know if that was a real possibility. Not the Klaus helping part; if there's one thing she counted on one hundred percent; it was that he would help her. But the part about getting rid of Silas... seemed impossible. And while he roamed Mystic Falls Caroline couldn't go home to her mother.

And on top of her Silas problems; _now_ she couldn't go home in case Marcel and his creepy obsession with Klaus followed her back there too! It was just a complete mess. If Caroline had one thing going for her; it was that she could always, always, turn a problem around if she smiled, or whined, or flirted, or bossed people around enough. She could always fix it one way or another. But for the first time in years; this was a problem she couldn't, for the life of her, see a quick fix for.

So in the mean time she was going to have to stay here. In Klaus' house. One bedroom down from his. Even though she had expressly told him she wasn't ready to come to New Orleans with him.

'Ugh,' she huffed, angry with herself for allowing the situation to get this bad in less than twelve hours. 'Well done Caroline, nice job.'

She sat back up and looked at the girl in the mirror; the girl with the beautiful dress and elegant hair. _That_ was the girl who had caused all these problems. _That_ was the girl who had eagerly slipped on an expensive dress to go to a party with the Original hybrid. _That_ was the girl who had pretended it was a completely unconscious decision to curl her hair just the way she had worn it the first time they had danced together. _That_ was the girl who forgot she was going to this party with Elijah, and not_ him_, and that she was only going to save her own life. _That_ was the girl that Caroline tried so desperately not to be every second of her existence. For that girl would only end up getting hurt.

She flinched and tore her gaze from her own blue eyes reflected in the mirror, as a soft knock on her door jolted her forcefully out of her self-reflection.

'Miss Forbes?'

'I'm ready,' she called. She looked back at her reflection. No. She didn't have time to wallow now; she had to focus. She took a deep breath, smoothed her skirt down as she stood up and went to open the door.

As it turned out; Elijah could be just as breathtakingly beautiful as his brother. The sight of him fully dressed in his tuxedo certainly robbed her of any words of welcome she might have been about to say.

'You look beautiful Caroline.' Elijah murmured, doing that thing again where he _really_ looked at her.

'Thank you.' She murmured, smiling softly.

He offered her his arm. She took it, blushing furiously at the compliment, and allowed him to walk her into the living room.

He made a sound of impatience as he saw that the living room was empty. He pulled out a pocket watch and tutted again.

'Niklaus.' He said, in a voice that was no louder than he would have spoken to her; stood right next to him. He didn't have to raise his voice; his tone conveyed all the impatience that was on his face; and they both knew that Klaus had excellent hearing.

Klaus shoved his door open; and he strode out into the room, rolling his eyes at his brother.

If she'd thought Elijah's beauty had robbed her of words; the way Klaus looked as he walked into the room could have robbed her of her soul.

He wasn't ready yet clearly; he stood there glaring defiantly at his older brother.

His shirt hung loose and open; exposing the smooth, hard planes of his chest and his devastatingly beautiful hipbones. His bowtie was slung carelessly around his neck and his blonde curls were tousled in such a just-out-of-bed way that she almost forgot to breathe. He _had_ to be doing that on purpose.

'Do not look at me like that 'Lijah! You are _early_; you are _always_ early. It is one of your most irritating traits.' Klaus grumbled at his brother; completely ignoring how affronted Elijah had looked to see Klaus still half dressed, and reaching for more alcohol from the cabinet.

'And you are always _late_ Niklaus; because you deliberately attempt to try my patience every time we have an engagement.' Elijah disputed.

She couldn't resist a little smile. It was so funny to see the pair actually acting like real brothers.

'I'm nearly bloody ready! Honestly Elijah-' Klaus turned swiftly from the alcohol cabinet to protest his innocence when he froze mid-step, noticing her for the first time.

He was looking at her as though she was the most exquisite piece of art he'd ever seen. She almost felt like her skin was burning wherever his eyes fell; he was staring at her so intensely. His lovely blue eyes were full of beautiful sentiments that she just couldn't handle tonight.

After a second too long of being silent he said:

'You look beautiful Caroline.' His voice was slightly rough as he spoke.

'Thank you,' she squeaked out, her heart contracting painfully as he said the exact same words as his brother had only moments before.

He cleared his throat slightly awkwardly; and looked sweetly lost for words for a second. And then he seemed to refocus on the task at hand for the evening. His face slipped into the mask of the man she'd met the night he'd snapped Tyler's neck and turned him into a Hybrid.

'Elijah, you will go to the party with Caroline. I will follow shortly after.' He turned his back on them both, but before he turned away she saw that his face was hard and bitter. 'Marcel _must_ think that she is with you. Be convincing.'

He slammed his door shut without another word.

Elijah looked down at her, and looked like he wanted to say something comforting to her. But after a glance back to Klaus' bedroom door, he clearly decided against it.

'Shall we?' He offered her his arm again, and she took it, nodding, and giving him a shaky smile.

As he led her out of the door; she sneaked a look behind her. His door was still closed.

She had to force herself to turn back to Elijah. Here she was walking out on the arm of one brother and craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the other. She had already seen where _that_ led to and it so wasn't pretty.


	6. Chapter 6

The scent of wild violets filled the summer night air as Klaus stalked up to the main house. They must have been growing in the expansive gardens that lined the long driveway up to the house. He felt a slight sting of regret at the familiar smell. It reminded him of his sister. Violets were Rebekah's favourite.

He hadn't bothered asking Elijah why she hadn't come to be with them. The answer had been written all over his brother's face the last time he'd returned from yet another failed attempt to convince their sister to rejoin their family.

The French-Colonial plantation house that matched the address on the invitation they'd received was stunning. It had been lovingly restored to its former beauty; he was sure it looked almost exactly how it must have two hundred years ago. It was a grand sight that Klaus would have loved to have painted. But its loveliness was soured somewhat by the fact that it was _Marcel's_.

When Klaus and his siblings had lived in New Orleans the first time they had owned a stunning plantation house a few miles from here; it was unfortunately a hotel now. Rebekah had been going through an architectural phase at that time; and had commanded human architects to make some quite beautiful renovations on the already magnificent mansion. And although he had always been loathsome to admit that his sister had _some_ talent; her carefully considered alterations had transformed the place into somewhere they had all called home.

Until Mikael had come for them and destroyed everything.

He passed party goers on their way up to the house; some were human; but most were vampires. All of them were formally dressed. He wondered irately if Marcel had bought them _all_ suits.

What an insult. He'd taken great delight in shoving his into the garbage disposal in the kitchen. Caroline had screamed; shouting something or other about a man named Paul Smith who'd made the suit. Klaus didn't care; he wasn't his brother. He would wear one of his _own_ suits thank you very much.

He was really not in the mood for a party. The whole thing was a joke anyway; this 'welcome home' party being thrown in Klaus' name was nothing more than a petty political move from Marcel. Show the Louisiana vampire community that he'd welcomed Klaus with open arms so that when Klaus _did_ make a move against Marcel; Klaus would be the bad guy. Oh Marcel thought he was so clever.

What he didn't realise was that Klaus _wanted_ to be the bad guy; he was good at it. When people thought you to be capable of terrible things; they didn't cross you. Marcel ruled the French Quarter with smiles and honey sweet promises of power to his underlings; but Klaus had always found fear to be the most useful tool when it came to control. He _wanted_ these southern vampires to tremble at the sound of his name. He would revel in their fear. When _he_ was King; they would all learn a new kind of respect.

He hesitated at the threshold for only a micro second; the sultry sweet sounds of bluegrass could be heard from inside.

Around him beautiful women; on the arms of handsome, well dressed men entered the party with eagerness. It would seem that the honoured guest was the only person who _hadn't_ been honoured to receive his invitation.

Klaus felt completely detached from the whole thing. How easy it was for these young vampires to enjoy a night like this; what did they have to worry about? They were young and beautiful and would live forever. None of them would live their immortal lives the way he'd had to; cursed by a mother who couldn't accept him; hunted by a father who couldn't love him; and the consequences of both of those things that seemed to drag him down every time he thought that he and his brothers and sister might finally be happy.

Well, whether he could have forced himself to enjoy this evening or not was irrelevant now. This evening had come a long way from simply entertaining Marcel's childish notions of politics. Now he was here to make sure Marcel and his boys forgot they'd ever seen him with Caroline. He would attend a thousand more parties if it meant saving her life.

He arranged his face into his usual disinterested smirk; and made sure to radiate the full extent of his power. The other vampires sensed it immediately and skittered out of his way like frightened rats.

He strode into the mansion like he owned it. He would own it, he decided, when Marcel was dead.

* * *

'Do you think Klaus is here yet?' she asked, taking a sip of her drink. It was a sugary-sweet blue concoction she'd taken with a disapproving frown from one of the many compelled humans who were weaving in and out of the party guests with trays of cocktails and canapés.

She pretended that she wasn't scanning the face of every party guest who ventured out onto the balcony where she was sitting with Elijah.

The balcony was beautiful; the low white walls which lined the edge of the space were covered with vines of ivy and fresh flowers. Thousands of little white lights twinkled in amongst the ivy; giving the balcony an intimate glow. The balmy night air was rich with a floral scent.

'If my brother were here, you would know it. Niklaus likes to make an entrance.' Elijah stated, with just the slightest hint of a smirk on his lips.

His usually very stoic face looked slightly wistful for a moment. She wondered if he was fondly remembering times in their long history where Klaus had gone to extremes to 'make an entrance'. She could almost imagine it too.

She smiled sadly to herself, looking away from Elijah and taking another sip of her drink.

She wondered if Klaus was even aware of how Elijah loved him. She could see it in the way Elijah's usually hard brown eyes would soften slightly sometimes; when he spoke about his brother. She knew that Klaus had frequently tested his relationship with each of his siblings to the point of fracture over the years. But despite all that; she could tell that it wasn't just a misguided sense of loyalty that kept Elijah at his brother's side; it was love. Even after all these years; after all the ways Klaus had lashed out at him and hurt him.

Maybe Elijah thought he could save him.

It made Caroline incredibly sad. For Elijah; for Klaus... and for her. Klaus hurt everyone he loved.

'You needn't be worried, Niklaus will be just fine. ' Elijah murmured, moving slightly closer to her on the bench as he lowered his voice. She guessed he must have misunderstood her sad smile.

She couldn't help but laugh at his words. She was pretty sure that she'd never had to worry _for_ Klaus since she'd met him. Elijah looked little bit surprised at her reaction.

'Of course he will be. He always is isn't he?' she answered. She put her hand on his arm and smiled to reassure him that she was not worried.

She felt his arm stiffen slightly under her fingers; so she withdrew her hand, trying very hard not to frown at his obvious discomfort.

Elijah cleared his throat, leaning away from her. Just a fraction, but enough for her to notice that the move was deliberate.

'Yes, yes he is.' He replied, not even really looking at her.

Okay, normally a rejection like that from Elijah wouldn't particularly bother her. Obviously he was super hot; but he was far too scary for her to be _that_ devastated that he'd freaked out the second she touched him.

But tonight; her life kind of depended on these vampires believing that she'd come to New Orleans _for_ Elijah. The Original was about to get a crash course on how to be Caroline Forbes' date.

'Elijah,' she said, slightly nervously, her voice so quiet only a vampire could hear her. Only the vampire sat next to her, she hoped. 'I know that we don't know each other very well, but you _need_ to stop flinching every time I come near you'.

She'd leant into his ear as she spoke. Her mouth grazed against his earlobe accidentally. He stiffened again as though she'd electrocuted him or something. _Seriously?!_

She huffed and rolled her eyes, throwing herself backwards in her seat and sulking. This was Klaus' _worst plan ever_.

'This is never ever going to work!' she muttered.

She looked wildly around at the party guests that surrounded them. They all had the faces of strangers. Any one of them could be reporting back to Marcel that she and Elijah were clearly _not_ together. Great, so not only was she going to end up dead most likely, but the last thing she would ever get to see would be Klaus; pulling a face that meant he'd known she couldn't handle this.

Elijah seemed to take a second to gather himself. Then he leant across and took her hand gently in his; running the fingers of his other hand along the smooth, creamy skin of her forearm. Her eyes widened slightly; that actually felt really nice.

One of the things that really annoyed Caroline about Klaus, and now his older brother too; was that they'd been around so long that they knew very well how to treat a woman. They could be extremely charming. _When_ they wanted to be.

'I apologise. You are right of course.' He looked up and met her gaze; and for the first time he didn't look at all like the terrifying original vampire she'd always thought him to be; he just looked like a man.

'You must excuse me. I have only ever truly loved one woman in my entire existence Caroline. I am... out of practice.'

Caroline had already spoken before her brain managed to wrangle her mouth.

'Ugh you mean Katherine?' she spat incredulously. And then she realised what she'd said. And the way she had said it. She slapped her hand over her mouth, and looked at him with wide, apologetic eyes.

He just smiled, softly, knowingly.

'You're not a fan?' he asked, his fingers still drawing circles around her wrist. From the outside she hoped they looked like a happy couple. And that they _weren't_ having the most awkward conversation ever.

'Erm, no...' she stuttered, 'Not really.'

'Not many people are these days.' He replied sadly.

'But you are?' she asked in disbelief. 'A fan? I mean, you like her? _She's_ the only woman you've ever...? _Seriously?_'

She knew she was being rude and nosy, but she could help it. Elena had told her the story of how Elijah had fallen in love with a human Katherine when Klaus held her prisoner five hundred years ago. She'd also heard from Elena that Elijah had been shacking up with Katherine since Elijah had left his family after their mother had tried to kill them all.

And when Caroline hadn't really spent any time with Elijah; all that had just been run of the mill gossip. But now she actually knew Elijah... the thought of him and Katherine was just... _wrong_.

She half expected Elijah to do what Klaus did; to shut her down as soon as she asked a personal question. But surprisingly he seemed willing to be honest with her.

'Yes, I loved Katerina.' He answered earnestly. 'Recently however, I have come to fear that she cannot be saved.'

He reached over and tucked one of her loose curls behind her ear. She almost flinched herself; Elijah seemed to have found his inner boyfriend for the night; her inner girlfriend was still a little shaky. She'd become totally distracted from the part she was supposed to be playing.

As she looked at him; there was a deep sadness in his dark brown eyes that only came from true heartbreak. She'd seen it in her own eyes the night when Tyler had- _ no_, she wasn't going to think about that now.

She couldn't help but be surprised at the depth of Elijah's feelings; but it was clear that he had indeed loved Katherine. She just couldn't place Elijah with a viper like her_. _

_He couldn't have truly known her,_ Caroline decided. _She must have played him the way she played Stefan and Damon. And every other member of the male species that she's ever met._

Aloud she just said:

'She can't be saved Elijah.' She had meant to sound honest; but the words came out bitter.

She really, _really_ hated Katherine. For some reason it irked her that Elijah _didn't_ hate her.

He stared intently into her eyes for so long without saying anything that she was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Was Klaus here yet? Was Marcel?

'I was under the impression that you believed in redemption Caroline?' he finally said, surprising her because she thought she could see _disappointment_ on his face.

She was immediately on the defensive. He _didn't_ get to be disappointed in her; he barely knew her for god sake.

'Katherine _murdered_ me, Elijah. I was seventeen years old.' She took a deep, shaky breath. 'She suffocated me without a second thought; all to save _herself_ from Klaus. There is no redemption for a person like that.' She snapped, withdrawing her hand from his.

She didn't even want to look at him. The sweet openness in which he spoke about his love for Katherine, very unfortunately, made her want to throw up.

She turned away from him, and signalled to one of the servers that she wanted another drink. As she lifted the drink from the tray, thanking the server softly, she temporarily forgot how much she despised the forced servitude of these humans; she just desperately needed a distraction from this conversation.

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. She glanced over at him from under her lashes. She'd never really seen much emotion on Elijah's face so she was taken aback to see how genuinely upset he seemed. He looked like a man who had desperately wanted to believe that the woman he loved was still the woman he fell in love with five hundred years ago.

She shoved herself forward on the bench; so that she didn't have to look at him. Caroline was beyond sick of watching stupid men fall apart over Katherine Pierce.

She was about to get up and announce that she was going to find Klaus, or the bathroom, or god knows, anything! The plan had failed; there was no way in a million years that anyone at this party was going to believe that she and Elijah were together. She was willing to admit defeat if it meant getting to walk away from this conversation.

Elijah stopped her before she had the chance.

She tensed angrily as she felt his hands fall gently on her shoulders. They could _not_ have picked a worse time to have to pretend to be a couple. He pulled her towards him; so that her spine pressed against his chest. Her breath stuttered when Elijah brushed his cheek against hers; she hadn't expected that. She felt his breath ghost across her collarbone as he spoke.

'I'm sorry Caroline.' He whispered in her ear.

She knew that he was; she could hear it in his voice. And she knew he wasn't apologising for their disagreement, or for his affinity for Katherine. He was angry, disappointed and devastated _for her_; for the human life that she had lost; she heard it all in those three words. It made her want to cry. Because she knew he understood; she knew the tragic story of how his own human life had ended.

She nodded. She didn't really know what to say.

'It's fine. I'm ok now. I'm happy as a vampire.' She murmured.

For some reason she felt the need to reassure him; something inside her needed him to know that she was ok. There were a thousand reasons that she was _not_ ok at the moment; but being a vampire wasn't one of them. And while she would never forgive Katherine for what she did; she was kinda over being killed.

He was silent for a few seconds. He was so quiet. She'd never met anyone like him. It was like he really took the time to think about things before he spoke. He was the _complete_ opposite of Klaus. And he wasn't as terrifying as she'd thought he would be.

His fingers were still draped across her shoulders, and she could still feel his solid chest pressed against her back through the soft material of her dress. His face was only millimetres from hers; it felt too intimate. If she turned her head; she would have been able to kiss him. _Not_ that she would; but that's how close they were. And she knew that they were _supposed_ to be doing this; that they were _supposed_ to come across as a loving couple; but it felt like... ugh it made her slightly sick to even think it... it felt like she was betraying Klaus.

As though he could read her mind; he pulled gently away from her and stood in front of her. He was smiling; a broad, lovely smile that lit up his handsome face. Sometimes she forgot that the Originals _could_ smile like normal people.

He held out a hand to her; which she took. He had a playful look in his eyes that was _so_ not the Elijah that she knew from Mystic Falls; she was slightly unnerved. He dropped a gentle kiss on her hand; just a light brush of his lips against her fingers, but it was so sweet and romantic that she felt her cheeks flush softly.

'Would you care to dance with me Miss Forbes?' he whispered, in a sweet voice that _just_ bordered on seductive.

She _was_ supposed to be his girlfriend. And... well... he _was_ pretty damn beautiful.

She smiled too; a real smile.

'I would love to.' She murmured back, allowing him to pull her up and into his arms.

He held her for a second; looking into her eyes. She thought he might be giving her a second to prepare herself for what the night still had in store. And then, with his arm around her waist, he gently guided her over to the balcony doors. They were going back inside to the main ballroom, where music was drifting through the open doors.

He dipped his head close to her ear. Anyone looking at them from inside the ballroom would think that he was kissing her neck. But he wasn't.

'Niklaus is here.' He whispered.

* * *

All those years ago when Klaus had chosen Marcel; given him immortal life; welcomed him into his family; bestowed upon him the title of protégé; it had been for one reason alone. Marcel was and always had been; a magnificent creature.

The ballroom where the guests were gathered was grand and vast; and Marcel _owned_ the whole room.

Strutting around the stage in the centre of the room; beautifully singing Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World'; Marcel had the audience enraptured. It was not just his skilful voice; or the way he owned the stage; those things were obvious. Marcel's skills were far more subtle.

In his performance now, and in the way he ruled the Quarter, Marcel used _love_ to his utmost advantage. He reached out to people; graced them with smiles; with his easy going gaze. Love was how he made his subjects in the Quarter feel safe, gave them a sense of family, of loyalty. And with those things came the foundations of true power.

This was Marcel's greatest and most wicked pretence. For in his heart the young vampire was a monster; just like Klaus. They'd been kindred spirits once upon a time; soul mates. Klaus had only ever made one vampire _in his image_ in one thousand years; and he was looking at him right now.

And as he stood there, arms folded, leaning against a grand marble pillar; he watched Marcel enchant this audience of vampires and humans. He still felt a sense of pride. Marcel was his greatest achievement. He was everything Klaus had taught him to be; but he had become more; _he_ could make people adore him in a way that Klaus could not.

And that was why he had to die.

The student was not supposed to surpass the master.

And there was not room for two kings.

Klaus scanned the room for Caroline. And his brother of course. But he couldn't see either of them in the crowded room. He wondered if Marcel had introduced himself to her yet. He hoped not. It had been a risk sending them first; but he'd wanted to throw Marcel off the scent.

The crowd erupted into applause as Marcel finished the song with style.

Klaus made his move; the time to watch his enemy from afar was over.

He strode out into the middle of the ballroom; the crowds were still cheering and applauding for Marcel. Right on cue:

'My guests; my very special friends; have I got a treat for you tonight!' Marcel's voice, deep and smooth as honey, echoed around the room through the microphone.

He leapt off the stage; landing with the precision of a panther. He swaggered over to Klaus and met him in the middle of the room.

They stood toe to toe.

Marcel was smiling. Klaus was not.

Still speaking into the microphone Marcel said: 'Please give your very best, Louisiana welcome to my guest of honour, my mentor and sire; the Original hybrid himself; Niklaus Mikealson!'

The time had come to smile and be gracious. Klaus would play this game just as well as Marcel. Because Klaus had _taught_ this game to Marcel; keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Klaus smiled; his best smile; the one he only brought out these days for Caroline. He put his hand on Marcel's shoulder and smiled at Marcel the way he used to smile at him one hundred years ago.

'Those of you who have heard of him; this is _the_ man, _the_ legend, the father of us all! Those of you who _don't_ know the name Niklaus Mikaelson...' Marcel trailed off, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he looked Klaus in the eye. 'Oooh baby, you're about to!'

The crowd erupted into cheers, applause and calls of welcome.

Marcel embraced Klaus; and Klaus hugged him back. It was rare moments like this when he wished he could lose himself in this game and just believe that he and Marcel were true friends, brothers and allies. But as Marcel stepped back; his smile full of welcome and his eyes dancing with joy, his hands on Klaus shoulders; Klaus cast that thought aside.

He did not want a friend. He wanted to be King.

He smiled broadly and raised his arms in welcome and acknowledgement to the crowd of vampires and humans, causing more cheers and applause. They would never love him as they loved Marcel; but that didn't mean Klaus couldn't be just as charming when it was required.

The wait staff weaved in amongst the circle of guest surrounding Marcel and Klaus, and distributed tall glasses of chilled champagne. They were all human Klaus noticed. Compelled.

Everyone followed Marcel in the toast he raised to Klaus. And then everyone followed Klaus in the toast he raised to Marcel.

'What can I say Marcel,' Klaus drawled, allowing his accent to wrap around the words. 'You have outdone yourself. Thank you; for such a marvellous welcome my friend.'

'Welcome to the quarter, brother!' Marcel bellowed.

The crowd echoed his sentiment and raised their drinks in agreement. Marcel laughed heartily; his face so alight with delight that Klaus could have almost believed him to be genuine. He laughed along with Marcel, throwing his arm around his shoulders.

'Bring us more drinks!' he yelled, matching Marcel's grin with a wolfish one of his own, and allowing Marcel to steer him across the dance floor, away from the crowds. As the warm bodies of the guests began to thin towards the edge of the room; he could see that Marcel had set up his own 'VIP' area.

There was a large raised dais, grandly decorated with golden chairs that glinted in the light of huge, vanilla-scented pillar candles. The candles sat on top of tall candelabras which were adorned with fresh, white lilies and orchids; the sweet scent of the flowers was mixing with the vanilla of the candles, creating an intimate and magical smell that filled the whole ballroom. Klaus recognised some of Marcel's 'boys' already sitting, laughing and smiling with women by their sides. They were sat within the sectioned off area; which was surrounded by sheets of golden chiffon; which draped from the high ceiling and touched the floor; softly diffusing the view of the guests that sat inside.

As night fell truly outside; the lights had been dimmed and the whole ballroom was aglow with candle light. The sultry tones of the bluegrass he'd heard as he approached the party were gone; the band had begun playing lilting romantic notes and the couples amongst the sea of beautiful, immortal faces, made their way over to the dance floor. The whole of this huge, grand room was now set for romance, seduction and intimacy. It was the exact _opposite_ of the kind of party he'd expected Marcel to throw.

He felt his throat contract with the urge to growl; he had an annoying suspicion that Marcel had done this on purpose. He was trying to make a point; about Caroline.

So he stepped into Marcel's secluded little world; made small talk and pleasantries with Marcel's daywalkers and close friends, drinking and laughing with them and gradually seeing the suspicion fall away from their eyes. To them; he was Marcel's sire; the creature who'd delivered unto them their fearless leader; and they seemed to respond well when he treated them with the same level of respect he treated Marcel with.

He regaled them with tails of Marcel's youth; they all laughed, and ribbed Marcel when he informed them of the amateur mistakes he'd made as a young vampire, and Marcel was just _loving_ being the centre of attention. He told them why he had chosen Marcel as his protégé; he was truthful; listing all of Marcel's best qualities; he raised his glass and they all bowed their heads to Marcel and toasted him; erupting into cheers and drunken words of love and respect.

If Marcel thought he was the only one who could enrapture a crowd; he was wrong. Everything he knew; he had learned from Klaus. And one by one; Klaus was convincing Marcel's inner circle; that he too loved Marcel; and that he could be trusted above all others to protect hm.

The night was going fairly well all things considered. He'd even cracked a few smiles so far that were not completely false. In another life; joining Marcel's family here might have been something he would have wanted.

He was sprawled comfortably in one of the golden chairs; acting very much like this is where he belonged. Firstly; because it was. The French Quarter _would_ be his soon enough. But secondly because he enjoyed seeing how his apparent ease with the situation was irritating Marcel.

Anyone else who looked at Marcel would see his big, attractive smile and happy, casual demeanour. Marcel never allowed his true feelings to grace his face.

But Klaus could tell. He knew Marcel as well as he knew himself; the young vampire was annoyed.

Marcel must have expected Klaus to be affected by the not so subtle threat that had been the invitation with Caroline's name on it. He'd maybe expected Klaus to be worried about bringing Caroline here; or that he perhaps wouldn't turn up to the party at all.

But that hadn't happened.

That was never how this night was going to go. He was the original hybrid; he would _never _be ruled by anybody. Least of all Marcel.

He was just reaching for a bottle of scotch from one of the ornate tables when his ears pricked up at a sound that made his heart squeeze painfully.

Caroline.

He heard her tinkling laughter from somewhere close; behind him. He had to force himself to not react; or to turn around; reaching for the bottle and pouring another drink like nothing had happened.

He had to continue as he normally would have.

As though her existence was nothing to him.

As though she really was Elijah's girl.

* * *

When Elijah had pointed out Marcel; Caroline had been a little afraid.

Even though she'd been stood there, holding hands with an original vampire who could have ripped Marcel to pieces in the blink of an eye; there was just something overwhelming about Marcel; he radiated power and confidence.

Caroline really wasn't looking forward to meeting him.

Elijah had reassured her that Marcel wouldn't approach them until it was in his best interest to do so; but still; Caroline had been on edge; practically snapping her neck as she tried to keep the handsome vampire in her sights. She hated being surprised.

And yet; Caroline was stunned.

Not by Marcel; he'd been far too busy schmoozing the audience. No, she was surprised by Klaus.

If she hadn't just witnessed his entrance into the party for herself; she would never have believed it. Did she seriously just see _Klaus_ smiling and laughing and making toasts?

She'd never seen that side of him before. Oh she'd seen him smile and laugh with Stefan... but that always had a sinister undertone. He'd acted in a similar way with her, at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant; happy, laughing, carefree; but at the time she'd been so confused as to how to reconcile _that_ Klaus, with the Klaus who'd killed Aunt Jenna; or the Klaus who'd turned Tyler into a Hybrid, that she couldn't figure out which version of him was real.

Seeing him acting so _human_ with Marcel... It was just weird. It made her desperately curious to know what he had been like before he'd become a vampire.

Elijah clapped along with the rest of the guests as Klaus raised a toast to Marcel and then swaggered off with his handsome protégé calling out for more drinks. Caroline just stood there.

Seriously; she would _never_ understand Klaus as long as she lived.

She felt Elijah's hand on her back, guiding her back to the dance floor as the band started playing soft jazz. She allowed him to pull her into his arms, and dance with her. Poor Elijah was doing all the work; she was still too stunned to move.

'How can he be like, a million different people at once?' she blurted.

Then she realised that she was asking Elijah, for advice on Klaus. She blushed and looked down at her powder blue peep toe shoes.

Elijah didn't say anything straight away; he rarely did. He pulled her right to him; so that there was barely a centimetre between their bodies; and placing her arms around his neck. He let his hands rest softly on the small of her back as he dropped his mouth to her ear.

'Niklaus is a complex man Caroline; he always has been.' He murmured in her ear, as quietly as he possibly could. Even with her improved vampire hearing; she had to strain to hear him.

'But...' she trailed off hopelessly.

She didn't even know what she was asking him. How could she ever explain to Elijah how it felt to have someone like Klaus be in love with her; to say that he would wait for her; however long it took. Which for them could be forever.

It was unimaginable; _he_ was unimaginable. Klaus was a thousand years old; and she was eighteen.

Yes, she'd known Klaus for over a year; and in that time they'd had some pretty intense moments where she'd thought she might have finally seen the real him. But most of the time she felt as though she barely knew a fraction of who he was; of what he was. How could she ever truly know, or understand all of him; when he was a thousand years worth of person?

She felt Elijah take a deep breath as he swayed with her to the music.

'Caroline...' He pulled away from her just slightly; so that he could look into her eyes. 'When I asked you before; if you believed in redemption you didn't answer me. Do you?'

He was looking at her so intensely that she had to take a slow, steadying breath. She squeezed her eyes shut; dropping her head so that it rested on his shoulder. Elijah's eyes were no longer terrifying steel traps; they'd become open and honest, and so deeply kind that she couldn't bear to look at them anymore. Now she understood why Rebekah had always called him 'dear, sweet Elijah.' There was a lot more to this man than just the title of Original vampire.

She knew why he was asking her this; it was written all over his handsome face. He was desperately seeking redemption. Not for himself, but for Klaus.

'Yes, I do.' She whispered.

For some reason her eyes had filled with tears.

'_But_,' she said, lifting her head so that he could see from her face that she was being truthful. 'It has to be _earned_ Elijah. And I-'

She paused before she spoke.

'Some days I'm not sure he is capable.'

She remembered the day she had been dying in Elena's living room. The day she had told him that anyone capable of love; was capable of being saved. Then he sent Tyler away and she gave up on him. She'd told him that people who did terrible things were just terrible people.

She still wasn't sure what she really believed. Some days he was everything she wanted him to be. Other days he would do evil things that made her wish he was dead.

A single tear fell onto her cheek. Embarrassed; she went to impatiently brush it away. Elijah beat her to it; softly catching it with his thumb and wiping it away.

Elijah looked like he had a thousand things he wanted to say.

'Some days I think that too.' He sighed, and glanced over to the area of the ballroom where Klaus had headed off with Marcel. 'But I choose to continue believing that one day the man in front of me will become the brother I remember.'

She felt a sharp and acute anger flare inside of her all of a sudden.

Elijah had spent a thousand years waiting around for Klaus to be a better person. What a waste of his immortal life! Is that what Klaus expected of her? _Not_ that she wanted to be with Klaus. But he _had_ promised to wait for her. Was that part of the promise? That he too expected her to wait around for a billion years for him to become the kind of man she could love in return? They were immortal; there was nowhere she could go that he couldn't follow, eventually she was going to have to give him an answer to his proposal of love.

She didn't exactly know or understand how she felt when it came to Klaus. But she sure as hell knew that most days she wasn't willing to put up with another second of his 'I'm the Original Hybrid' bullshit; she never had; since the night he'd decided to make Mystic Falls his home. So there was _no way _she would put up with it for another century, or another millennia!

He was on thin ice as it was; after killing Carol Lockwood. One more stunt like that and she was never speaking to him again.

She couldn't understand what could possibly give Elijah hope for Klaus' salvation. But then, she'd never had a brother.

'How can you still believe that? After all these years? After everything he's done?' she asked. Her voice was rough; she tried to ask the question like she was only asking for Elijah's benefit and not her own.

Elijah almost winced at her words. Maybe she was pushing him too hard.

'I'm sorry Elijah, I shouldn't have-' she apologised.

'No. It is a reasonable question.' He answered. His face was suddenly hard. 'Niklaus has done unspeakable things.'

She nodded biting her lip. She looked around; where was Klaus? Perhaps they shouldn't be having this conversation here.

'He is selfish, power driven and unfeeling. He will take what he wants without questioning the consequences to others, even if those others are his own family. He has destroyed our family; it is his fault, after all, that my brothers are dead-'

'Elijah!' she gasped, interrupting him and tearing herself from his arms. 'That is _not_ true!'

No; _her friends_ had killed Elijah's brothers. Not Klaus.

A woman dancing near them turned to look at Caroline in surprise; she was blowing her cover. But Caroline couldn't just continue pretend to snuggle up with Elijah after he'd said _that_. She just stood, looking at him accusingly, her hand over her mouth.

And then Elijah did the very last thing she expected. He smiled.

He reached for her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He smiled at her. She gawked back at him.

'_This_ is how I can still believe that he can be saved Caroline. You know who he is and what he has done; some of those things he has done to you or those you love and yet; you would still stand there and defend him. Even from me. _That_ gives me hope. _You_ give me hope.'

Okay. What. The. Hell?!

There was nothing about her that could save Klaus. So there _was_ something about him that tugged at her heart yes, fine, she would admit that; but he was so so damaged. What could a baby vampire like her do?

Elijah was putting too much on her. Why did everyone keep forgetting that she'd been in New Orleans for less than 24 hours! _Jesus_, maybe facing Silas _would_ be easier than all of this!

'No. Elijah, I-' She stuttered.

He pulled her back to him, twirling her around in time to the music. Like nothing had happened.

'I know it must be overwhelming for you. But believe me when I say that my brother is a better man in your presence. He cares for you.'

Although he was saying fluffy romantic things; Elijah's voice was deadly serious.

She rolled her eyes sulkily. Yes she knew that; but she didn't need Elijah to say it out loud. What was it about these brothers that made them think they could just say things like that? This much honesty wasn't good for her health.

'Elijah, we can't talk about this here.' She murmured, casting her gaze around in an attempt to see if anyone was listening in on them.

He cupped her face gently in his hands. She almost flinched so hard she would have fallen over; at the last second her vampire reflexes allowed her to resist the urge to jump away.

'You are quite remarkable Caroline.' He murmured. His face was so close to hers she could have counted is lashes.

_What does that even mean? _She thought; beyond frustrated with all the original crap she had to deal with.

'I need a drink.' She huffed, eying him sulkily.

He laughed loudly. He had that smirk on his face again.

She mentally took back all the nice things she had thought about him in the last few hours.

Ugh he was _just_ like Klaus.

* * *

'She's stunning... Where _did_ you find her?'

Marcel sat next to him; dipping his head in Caroline's direction; but keeping his eyes locked on Klaus' face. He'd probably been waiting _hours_ to casually torture Klaus with his knowledge of the blonde vampire.

Klaus kept his face disinterested to the point of boredom.

'Where did I find who?' he asked. He took another swig of his drink and looked around the room; deliberately allowing his eyes to move past Caroline and his brother and to rove over the vast ocean of guests.

'The _blonde_ Niklaus,' Marcel sang. He smiled broadly, waggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner; and his tone sounded, to Klaus, like he was enjoying eyeing up Caroline a little too much.

'You mean Miss Forbes?' he asked, glancing over; as he uninterestedly as he would have always been when asked about any girl of Elijah's.

It was the first chance he'd had to look at her since he'd seen her in his apartment. She really was breathtaking in that sky blue dress. She was dancing with his brother; laughing prettily at something Elijah had said. Even Elijah was smiling. It was irritating. Klaus fought the urge to grind his teeth.

'Is that her name?' Marcel asked innocently.

'It was on the invitation you sent out Marcel.' He replied; slightly more savagely than he'd intended.

Marcel raised his eyebrows; a smirk settling on his mouth.

'Now you don't think I write those personally do you?' He laughed loud and deep, clapping Klaus on the shoulder.

Of course Marcel would deny all knowledge of the invitation; that made complete political sense of course. But it made Klaus' blood boil. He remembered a time when Marcel wouldn't have _dared_ lie to him. He spitefully hoped that Marcel was wondering what had happened to the suit that he'd sent for Klaus.

Klaus begrudgingly laughed with him; he took large mouthful of bourbon. He was going to need more. He eyed the bottle on the table.

He deliberately didn't say anything as he reached for the bottle; making the decision mid-reach to just drink from the bottle. Marcel waited in silence for a few seconds before being unable to hold his tongue. One thing Klaus had never quite been able to impart to him was the importance of patience.

'So what's the deal man, why did you send your girl off with boring old Elijah?' Marcel pretended to pout, in a way that Klaus was sure others must find charming. _He_ did not find it charming at all. 'Didn't you want me to meet her?'

'The decision to introduce you two was not mine Marcel.' Klaus answered in his most casual voice. He uncomfortably choked on his next words. 'She belongs to Elijah.'

'_Does_ she?' Marcel smirked in a way that Klaus really didn't appreciate. 'What a shame. She is a damn _belle femme_!'

He eyed Caroline hungrily. Klaus had to physically busy his hands with unscrewing the cap on his bourbon bottle; to stop himself from shoving them into Marcel's chest and removing his spine.

'She is but a child. I do not see Elijah's fascination.' He said casually; shoving the bottle in his mouth and drowning himself in bourbon.

Caroline chose that moment to let out a beautiful laugh; her face lighting up angelically as she smiled at his brother. Elijah reached his hand up to her face and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

He clenched his hands around the bottle; his knuckles going white. Exactly how convincing did the pair of them need to be?

Marcel glanced at him sideways; a look of vicious victory on his face.

'Is that so? Doesn't Elijah usually prefer brunettes?'

'Why do you care Marcel?' Klaus asked. He was losing control of this; his voice was edging on a growl. 'Would you like to challenge my brother for her? You have many talents my friend, but besting an original vampire is not one of them.'

He hoped that the threat in that sentence was clear enough.

But Marcel only laughed; he was shaking his head, his brown eyes crinkling in the corners as a big smile spread across his face. He leaned over; resting his arm on the edge of Klaus' chair.

Anyone watching them from afar would see two friends; sat comfortably with each other. But to Klaus this was a power play. Marcel was showing him that he was not scared to be in the original hybrid's personal space; that he believed himself invincible when it came to subtly threatening the most dangerous monster on earth. Klaus' fingers itched to rip Marcel's heart from his chest and show him exactly how incorrect he was in that assumption.

Looking around however, he was incomprehensibly outnumbered. Marcel's boys were everywhere; if he made a move against Marcel now the risk would be too great. Although he and Elijah would have decimated them all; all it would take was for either of them to be distracted for a second; and Caroline would be dead.

Not to mention what the witches would do to the damned child if he were to destroy Marcel before they were ready.

So Klaus swallowed his surmounting fury; storing it away for now. Marcel would pay for this insolence at a later date. Of that he had no doubt.

'One of my boys, Thierry, you know Thierry.' Marcel whispered conspiratorially, leaning in, closer to Klaus, like they were sharing a secret.

Yes, he remembered Thierry. He remembered the taste of Thierry's blood as he'd bitten into the young vampire's neck at Marcel's home on his first night in New Orleans. He held on to that satisfying memory as Marcel continued.

'Well, funnily enough _he_ was waiting for _his_ girl at the arrivals lounge of LAI this morning-'

'And let me guess,' Klaus interrupted sarcastically. There was only so much of Marcel's bullshit he was willing to take. 'Good old Thierry saw me there, collecting Caroline? I thought we agreed you wouldn't send any more of your boys after me Marcel?' He kept his voice light but the threat in his words was obvious this time.

'Klaus, Klaus, Klaus,' Marcel drawled; he had the gall to keep that irritating grin on his face. 'Didn't I say that Thierry was there for his own reasons? The Quarter is just not as small as we'd like it to be sometimes!' He chuckled and signalled for more drinks to be brought to the table.

Klaus remained silent, his face hard with anger. He would not give Marcel the satisfaction of thinking that Klaus believed a word he said.

'Don't be angry man; Thierry was just looking out for you.' Marcel reached for Klaus shoulder and squeezed it. 'He knew about the party tonight; and when he saw that you were meeting a woman... well,' Marcel's smile was triumphant. 'He wanted to make sure she was welcomed into the community here just like you.'

Klaus stared at Marcel; his eyes cold. The fact that he had to continue pretending to be friendly with Marcel the usurper was making him so furious he was fighting very hard to keep it under control. He made himself smile a small; half smirk of a smile.

'And while I appreciate Thierry's... concern,' he tried to remove all traces of sarcasm for his voice. 'I was simply collecting Caroline on Elijah's behalf. The stupid girl threw herself at me in tears; I believe there had been some kind of falling out between her and my brother.' He rolled his eyes and frowned with distaste. He made a point of looking over at the pair of them, dancing happily together. 'Although that seems to be resolved now.'

'Is that right?' Marcel asked; for the first time his voice had lost some of its warmth. And in that second Klaus realised that Marcel did not believe him.

'That's a real shame Niklaus; I picked the dress personally you know,' He turned to Klaus, and for the first time in a long time, Klaus saw the true monster that Marcel was; hidden behind his eyes, but still there. 'I still remember that blue is your favourite colour.'

Klaus attempted to smile; to diffuse the situation before it escalated.

'I hear no complaints from Elijah, you picked well my friend.'

Marcel ignored him. His eyes were trained on Caroline; they were cold and shrouded; like a snakes eyes.

'You know,' Marcel murmured, 'I'm not sure your brother is that attached to the girl at all. And since you hold no fondness for her either; I think I will go and ask her to dance myself.'

Klaus gripped the arms of the armchair viciously. He clenched his jaw tightly.

'I doubt my brother will take kindly to that mate.' He bit out. Quickly calculating his options; weighing up the pros and cons of ending Marcel before he could touch her.

'Oh please Niklaus,' Marcel winked at him; smiling smugly, 'your brother has barely touched the poor girl all night. Believe me, I've been watching. Someone that stunning; should be shown _proper_ attention.'

Marcel rose elegantly from his seat and strode towards the steps leading down onto the dance floor; and over to where his brother held Caroline. Klaus shot up and followed. The second he did; he saw Marcel signal to his boys. From where he was still stood on the raised dias; he could see vampires loyal to Marcel all moving silently and immediately in the direction of Caroline.

The witches be damned.

It was time for Marcel to die.

* * *

As far as baby vampires went; Caroline Forbes had to be his favourite, Elijah had decided.

In the few hours he had spent with her today she had completely surprised him; and Elijah was not often surprised by anything.

Aside from being quite beautiful on the outside; Caroline was unimaginably beautiful on the inside too. She had such an overwhelming amount of her humanity still intact that it made Elijah wistful for his own.

For a girl of seventeen years she had such an impressive degree of control; over both her vampire urges and her emotions. Even though he barely knew her it was obvious that she was surprisingly wise and deeply compassionate. She made him feel a little like _she_ was the one who'd been around for a millennium, not him.

He could see why Niklaus was so enamoured with her.

Even when she was in a sulk she was delightful.

He'd almost not said anything to her. When she had asked him how he could still believe in Niklaus' redemption; his first thought had been of the son or daughter his brother would soon have. But as of yet; the existence of the child had yet to bring any light or solace to his brother's life. Miss Forbes on the other hand...

He'd never seen his brother so out of control as he had in the last twelve hours. Caroline was Niklaus' undoing. But it made Elijah happy to finally see some feeling in his brother that was not routed in anger, or hate. The way she had spoken to Niklaus this afternoon...the fact that she survived to tell the tale; was nothing short of a miracle.

He had known, of course, of Klaus' interest in the blonde vampire back in Mystic Falls; but as with all of Klaus' interests, he'd expected it to soon pass. And since they'd relocated to New Orleans; Klaus hadn't spoken of Caroline at all. Not that his brother had ever been particularly vocal about his feelings; but Elijah could usually read him. Klaus had kept his feelings for Caroline deeply buried; which is why Elijah now knew that she must be incredibly important to his brother.

Which is the only reason he'd agreed to partake in this charade of an evening. Babysitting his brother's ridiculously young and obstinately _teenage_ girlfriend was not Elijah's idea of time well spent. But at the time he'd been willing to entertain any notion that would put his brother in a more amiable mood than the foul one he'd been in for the last three months.

It had turned into quite a pleasant evening however; Caroline had turned out to be quite an interesting young woman. She had a lot of the same traits that he'd admired in Elena; but she magnified them somehow; she was the most human vampire that Elijah had ever met in one thousand years.

She really was something.

It had taken him nearly an hour to convince her to stop being angry with him for what he had said. He'd known when he'd said it; that it was too much pressure to put on someone so young. To expect her to react with anything other than anger and confusion would have been unintelligent. But he hoped that his faith in her ability to become a positive force in his brother's dark existence would help her on the days when she felt like giving up on him.

She'd soon cheered up again; when he had offered to dance any dance with her; of her choice. She had taught him some ridiculous dance that she'd clearly seen in a movie; as it was a strange collaboration of bits and pieces of traditional dances from various centuries.

She giggled with delight as he lifted and twirled her as part of the dance. Her smile made him want to smile too. It had been a long time since Elijah had had anything to smile about.

'I have _got_ to take these shoes off soon!' she said breathlessly, her eyes alight with pleasure.

As he laughed along with her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear that had slipped from her elegant bun; he began to notice the eyes on her.

She stood, leaning against him, adjusting her shoes, looking magnificent in that blue dress. Her cheeks were pink and she was out of breath from the dancing; she was probably the only vampire that he'd ever met who continued to breathe all the time; as though she'd never stopped. She was probably the most beautiful creature in the room.

Come to think of it; she was drawing a fair few sets the eyes in the room. They were too far away for him to tell if they were vampire or human; but they were all shooting glances at her. He didn't know if they were looking at her because she was beautiful; or because they were spying on her for Marcel.

He frowned; reaching over to pull her slightly closer to him. Something was not right about this.

'What's wrong with you?' she asked, pretending to be cross with him.

He had noticed that she pretended to be exasperated by protective behaviour even though he could tell that she secretly enjoyed the feeling of being protected. He could hear concern in her voice as she looked up at him; her painful shoes suddenly forgotten.

'We are attracting attention.' He murmured; knowing that she could hear, even though they'd moved quite close to where the band was playing as they'd danced.

He saw the worry cross her face. She bit her lip as she glanced around.

'Well,' she said loudly, her face determined, 'Maybe they are jealous; that we are such a happy couple.'

She was very brave.

Completely ignoring the ominous eyes on them; she leant up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. They were nearly nose to nose.

'Just dance with me ok?' she whispered in his ear.

He could tell that she was afraid. Her hands were shaking slightly as she gripped the back of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly; pulling her to him, in an attempt to make her feel safe.

Bringing her here had been a risk on his brother's part; but not bringing her at all would have drawn more attention to the fact that Niklaus didn't want anyone to know that she was in New Orleans.

It must be terrifying for her; to be in a room full of hundreds of vampires. All older and stronger than her; all followers of Marcel; all strangers to her. But she'd bravely soldiered into this party; to save her own life. Elijah admired that.

He grabbed her softly and twirled her around; dipping her in time to the music. Her smile returned as she twirled back into him. Nothing seemed to keep this girl down for long.

Over her shoulder he caught a glimpse of his brother through a gauzy golden curtain. So that's where he had been all this time.

One look at Niklaus' face told Elijah that things were not going well. Marcel looked positively jubilant whereas his brother looked about ready to commit murder. Dread settled in Elijah's stomach. This could not end well.

He twirled Caroline again; and maintained the easy smile on his face so as not to give away his worry to her. She'd exhibited exceptional self control so far for a vampire of her age; but she hadn't been truly tested yet. The last thing he needed was for her to give in to her fear and become useless.

He strained his ears, as he made sure to keep his eyes on Caroline's face. He did not want Marcel to know that he was listening.

The few words he did catch made his blood run cold.

'_... your brother has barely touched the girl...'_

'_...think I will go ask her to dance myself...'_

He gripped Caroline's waist tightly as he saw Marcel rise from his seat.

He looked back down into her eyes. They were wide with fear and incredibly blue. She'd noticed the change in his demeanour.

He tried to smile; tried to communicate with his eyes that whatever happened, he and Niklaus would protect her.

She moved to turn and look behind her; he pressed his fingertips where they sat on her waist forcefully into her skin. She winced in pain and glared at him; he shook his head subtly; telling her not to turn around.

Niklaus had just darted from his seat; following Marcel. The look on his brother's face was dangerous.

Niklaus looked up for a split second and caught Elijah's eye. Elijah immediately saw in his brother's eyes that he was prepared to kill Marcel. That he would sacrifice everything to save this girl. And that he expected Elijah to do the same.

Suddenly there was movement in the crowds; Marcel's men were making their way through the happy, completely oblivious party guests that littered the dance floor. In less than a couple of seconds they would be surrounded.

Elijah was quickly was running out of options.

They couldn't run; that would give them away. They couldn't just stand there and wait for Marcel's arrival; Elijah was sure that if Marcel so much as touched Caroline, his brother would remove his head from his shoulders.

In the end there was only one thing to do. One thing he could do to save her from what was coming.

He brought both of his hands up to her face, tracing the edge of her jaw line with his thumbs.

She swallowed; her blue eyes wide with panic.

He caressed her cheek to soothe her.

Marcel was less than fifteen feet away.

Elijah was out of time.

So he kissed her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Please let me know if you like what I did with Klaus in this chapter, because this has been the _hardest_ part for me to attempt to characterise him! Oh and as always, please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes. I'm without a beta! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

When he'd caught his brother's gaze across the room; Klaus had tried desperately to silently communicate to Elijah that he must do all that was necessary to save Caroline.

He had expected his brother to die for her if that's what it came to. He had not expected _this_.

The second Elijah touched his lips to Caroline's; Klaus felt vulnerable in a way he hadn't felt for over a thousand years. Once again; he had to stand there and watch as his older brother took something that he loved dearly. Klaus had thought he'd left these petty insecurities behind with his humanity; but the vile claws of jealousy scratched their way through his veins; his throat burned with hurt and grief. All he could do was stand there and witness Elijah touching her; tasting her; devouring her. And Caroline kissed him back. Her hands curling through his brother's dark hair. It made him feel sick.

He stopped running towards the pair; standing stock still in disbelief. He almost couldn't believe that Elijah would _dare_. The thought made him feel an odd mixture of the urge to laugh out loud, and the urge to leap forward and rip his brother's spine out of his back.

Marcel's guards moved swiftly past him; surrounding Caroline and his brother. Marcel strode confidently forward. But Klaus couldn't move. He just stood there; close enough to smell her perfume; but too far away to touch her.

Deep down inside he _remembered_ telling them to be convincing. He _remembered_ his look to Elijah; the shared message that gave Elijah permission to do _anything_ it took to save her from Marcel. But _this_? This hurt. This was unforgivable. To force him to have to watch this was pure cruelty.

Marcel was now just a few steps away from the woman he loved, and his last living brother. Klaus needed to act now; if he still intended to save them. And he would have. He would have grabbed Marcel from behind and snapped him in half like an old piece of charcoal to save them both.

But he heard Caroline make a breathy sound as Elijah pressed her against a pillar; kissing her beautiful mouth.

His eyes went wide and his hands shook. He even thought there might be tears in his eyes. There was bile in his throat.

His fists clenched tightly as a cold rage swept through him; overwhelming him.

There would be no forgiveness. He knew that they were both quite aware of what she meant to him. They would suffer dearly for this. But not at the hands of a pathetic almost-baby vampire like Marcel. No, they would suffer at _his_ hands.

This was a betrayal; and everybody knew the price of betraying Niklaus Michaelson.

* * *

When Caroline thought about it later; she tried to convince herself that when Elijah had kissed her; she had taken a moment to ask herself what on earth he was doing. Afterwards, she tried to think back and remember if she had taken a moment to think about Klaus; and what this would look like to him. But she hadn't; she'd been a coward.

She'd been so afraid. So desperate to turn around and see what was coming for her. She could _feel_ them coming; she was a vampire after all. She could feel the vibrations in the air that they made as they walked towards where she and Elijah stood. Panic had flooded her chest; expanding like a bubble; squashing her lungs and cutting off her ability to breathe.

When Elijah kissed her; the bubble popped. When he pulled her to him; she felt safe. He was a thousand years old; nobody could hurt her while he was there to protect her.

Her only reaction; a soft gasp of surprise; was lost against his soft lips.

His hands held the back of her head, his fingers were buried deep in her soft blonde curls; but she could feel the hesitance in his hands _and_ in his kiss. He kissed her softly, tenderly; as though he truly loved her. It was one of the most beautiful kisses of her life.

But it wasn't enough. They were coming for her.

She knew that the gentleman in Elijah was holding him back. It almost made her want to laugh; even though they were in serious trouble; he was being gentle with her because he didn't have permission to kiss her.

He had made a bold move already by kissing her. But he was holding back; the same way he'd been holding back all night. If they were going to persuade Marcel to _back off_; they had to be convincing. That's what Klaus had said wasn't it? _Be convincing. _

She guessed the next bold move had to be hers.

Burying all of her uncertainties about this and sacrificing all of her self-respect; she tilted her head backwards, pressed the length of her body to his and kissed him hard.

That was all the permission Elijah needed. He dropped his hands to her waist and pulled her flush against him; deepening the kiss as he parted her lips with his tongue.

Caroline was dizzy with adrenaline; her blood tumbling through her veins and crashing like waves in her ears. It was probably the oddest set of circumstances she'd ever found herself in; kissing an original vampire to protect herself... Elena wouldn't believe it when she told her.

Her shoulders hit something solid as he pushed her gently against a pillar. His arms were around her now, gathering her up, holding her as tight and as close against him as she could be and still remain a separate person. His kissed her urgently and fiercely. It was a good job she didn't have to breathe.

She let her hands explore his graceful, muscular back, his wide, sturdy shoulders. She touched his neck and felt the way his dark hair curled sweetly at the nape of it.

His expert hands glided across her body; one tracing fire along the base of her neck; the other ghosting across her hip bone. Despite the fact that she knew she didn't have feelings for him; her entire body betrayed her; reacting to his touch; her skin aflame with goose bumps. She let out a completely involuntary gasp. The way he felt and tasted! He certainly knew what he was doing. This was a thousand years worth of experience poured into just one kiss.

Her mind wondered; even as Elijah nipped at her bottom lip gently with his human teeth; sending a shiver down her spine_._

_Is this what it would feel like to kiss Klaus? _

Oh god. Klaus.

It was like being doused by a bucked of cold water. Thank god she was a vampire. If she'd been human she would have shoved Elijah away from her that second and scanned the crowd as quickly as she could for the Hybrid. Her vampire abilities allowed her to process her immediate reactions before acting on them. She kissed Elijah once more on the mouth, a soft kiss, but a definite last kiss. She pulled away from him; her hands on his shoulders, her eyes glued to his.

She knew that she had to stay in character; she knew it. But it was the hardest thing she had ever done.

She couldn't see him; but she could feel him; standing not even 10 feet away from her. Klaus. Her every nerve ending was bouncing in reaction to his proximity.

How could she have just allowed herself to get so lost in Elijah's arms? She cringed as it struck her that Klaus must have watched the whole thing. God, he was going to kill her.

She didn't want to _begin_ to think about her feelings for him. But the fact that she felt sick right now; because she knew that she'd hurt him; she understood now that meant there _had_ to be feelings there. And even though she couldn't shove them away and pretend that they didn't exist anymore; she still didn't know exactly what it was that she felt for him. But what she did know for definite was; that what she was about to do was going to hurt her just as much as it would hurt him.

She drew a shaky breath; she couldn't do it; she couldn't. Not while he was watching.

Someone took a step towards them through the crowd of dancing couples; she didn't see who; she was lost to panic. She felt Elijah's shoulders tense under her hands; his grip on her waist tightening slightly.

_Oh for god sake Caroline!_

She was so sick of this victim bullshit; so sick of being afraid. At the end of the day no one was going to save her but herself. She was Caroline Forbes damn it, and damn the consequences; she would be brave.

She forced herself to smile softly; gazing adoringly up into Elijah's brown eyes. She hoped she looked like a girl in love. She'd planned to say the words; they'd been on the tip of her tongue; she knew that saying those three little words would be the most convincing thing she could do. But she couldn't do it. Not with his blue eyes scorching holes in her.

But apparently just looking at Elijah as though she loved him served its purpose. She heard Klaus suck in a breath and it was like a knife in the stomach. God she felt sick.

She'd come so close to seeing the real him; he finally seemed to be changing. It was pretty likely that he would never open up to her again after this. She wanted to run away and cry. He _had_ to understand; _he had to._ He had _told_ her to be convincing.

Her eyes filled with tears. Elijah dipped his head, resting his forehead against hers. His mouth was curved in a sweet smile of happiness; but his eyes were alert; ready. He was trying to tell her that it was going to be ok. But she didn't think it was.

Then she made the biggest mistake she'd made all night. Without her permission; her eyes moved from Elijah's, seeking out Klaus. She couldn't help herself; she felt compelled to look at him. To see him. She met his eyes stormy blue eyes. There was no forgiveness in them.

She knew that she didn't owe him anything; she had never promised him that she would ever return his feelings. What she didn't know was why this felt so much like she'd betrayed him.

She flinched violently when a caramel coloured hand fell lightly on Elijah's shoulder. Elijah didn't even blink. He turned slowly; his face a mask of cool anger; as though this intruder really had just interrupted a romantic moment between them.

So it hadn't worked. After all that. After she'd ruined her friendship with Klaus... Marcel was finally here. She doubted very much that he would dare to interrupt an original vampire and his woman if he genuinely believed that she and Elijah were together. She had failed.

She wanted to cry.

But she was nothing if not stubbornly brave in the face of danger.

So she swallowed her tears and got her first close up look at Marcel. He was younger than she'd thought he would be. Or at least, he'd been young when he died. He was devilishly handsome; with a roguish smile that she was sure charmed the pants off of everyone in the French Quarter.

'Elijah,' Marcel drawled Elijah's name fondly, as though they were long lost friends. Perhaps they had been; once upon a time.

'Marcel,' Elijah greeted him; with a warm smile and just a hint of annoyance. How she could have doubted Elijah's acting abilities at the beginning of this dreadful night she had no idea.

She stared at both of the men in front of her, transfixed. So much was going unsaid; on the surface they greeted each other fondly; but underneath all that; she could see the tension in both of their bodies. They were like snakes; waiting to strike at each other. It put her on edge; fear was creeping through her veins again. She was so distracted by watching them that she started slightly when both men turned their eyes to her.

'What a beautiful woman you have here.' Marcel sang, staring at her too hard and for too long.

That smile of his widened. He smiled too much. Caroline thought it was beyond creepy. And hello, what a pig! How dare he comment on her attractiveness before even asking her name?

Any sympathy she might have felt for Marcel after Klaus had told her that he was going to take the Quarter from the young vampire vanished instantly.

'Mmm-mm, delicious. Mind if I cut in old friend?'

Caroline was just about to tell the jerk that _she_ damn well _did_ mind if he butted in.

Her retort turned into a shaky breath of fear as Marcel reached forward and ran his fingers along her collarbone. He looked at her seductively and dipped his fingers just slightly, grazing the top of her breast.

Her eyes widened in fear and disgust. She didn't have time to slap Marcel like she would have liked. She didn't even have time to look to Elijah and see what the hell he was going to do about what Marcel had just done.

Klaus had blood on his hands before she even had a chance to blink.

* * *

The time for diplomacy had passed. Violence was the only solution now as far as Klaus was concerned.

Despite how furious, hurt and slightly murderous Klaus currently felt when it came to Caroline; Marcel had just crossed the fucking line.

To spend the evening subtly disobeying and attempting to bait _him_ was a crime that Marcel would pay for. And to openly and publicly disrespect Elijah; an Original Vampire, that was something else entirely. But to _touch her_. Marcel would pay for that with his life.

Two of Marcel's pathetic bodyguards stood just in front of where he had stopped when had lost the ability to move. They would be perfect for getting Marcel's attention.

Without even blinking, Klaus plunged his hands into the backs of two of Marcel's men; obliterating their spines with his fists. He grasped their un-dead hearts with his fingers and tore them out.

God it felt good to kill again. It even made him feel slightly better about the betrayal that was still making his blood burn.

The dying screams of the two young vampires stopped Marcel in his tracks. He had picked these vampires for a reason; he'd had already spotted the lapis lazuli rings on their fingers. They were day walkers. They were part of Marcel's close family. And now they were dead.

'Touch her again mate and you will be next.' He spat, anger biting at his words.

He really would have preferred it if his anger was just about the fact that Marcel was acting indecently with a woman. But it wasn't that; Klaus had witnessed Marcel and his boys pawing at young women all night and he hadn't cared one bit; he was not the gentleman that Elijah was. No, he was angry because Marcel had touched _her_. And he was even angrier with himself because, try as he might, he just couldn't disassociate himself from her. Even when he wanted to kill her; he was desperately in love with her.

Marcel slowly turned away from Caroline; his force contorting with undisguised fury as he saw the bodies of his friends on the ballroom floor; their blood pooling across the white marble.

Klaus half expected Marcel to put on a show of grief over the two dead vampires; who up until thirty seconds ago, had been his '_brothers'_. Only an hour ago he and Klaus had played happy families in front of these people; and after all; Marcel had his nice guy reputation to uphold.

But surprisingly Marcel didn't bother with the show; he just stared angrily from the bodies, back up to Klaus' face with undisguised loathing. Good; it was about time Marcel started behaving like an adult.

It pleased Klaus to see that when it came to him; Marcel knew that his pathetic little party tricks were useless. It would seem Marcel still had a well hidden, but healthy amount of respect for his former mentor.

The party guests, who had obviously believed that Klaus and Marcel were truly friends and allies, were silenced with shock and fear. They skirted backwards to avoid the spreading dark-red lake of blood. The music had stopped abruptly; the band staring out at the parted crowd in confusion.

Caroline hadn't moved a muscle. She was looking at him; fear consuming her beautiful face. Red blood soaked into her blue satin shoes and stained the bottom of her dress. She was an angel; drenched in blood.

He smirked viciously at Marcel and threw both hearts unceremoniously at his feet. His hands were dripping and red.

_That_ wiped the ridiculous smirk off of Marcel's face. Klaus' young protégé glared at the pair of hearts which sat at his feet; staining his expensive shoes. Then he smiled savagely; wickedness twinkling in his eyes.

'So she _is_ your girl?'

Even though Marcel's dark eyes burned with rage, he still managed to fill his tone with a teasing confidence. He was smug. Even though he had suffered loss; he saw victory in finally baiting Klaus into a reaction.

'Why didn't you just say so?' Marcel purred; reaching out his hand and trailing his fingers across Caroline's cheek.

Elijah still held Caroline's hand but he made no move to rip Marcel's arm from his body like Klaus would have. Just another crime to add to the list of those his older brother had committed tonight.

Caroline shuddered away from Marcel's touch; looking imploringly to Klaus. It was something at least; that when her life was in danger she turned to him still and not Elijah. But even that was beginning to wear thin for him. How long could go on saving her life; valuing her above all others; only to receive no affection from her in return? How could he continue to love her after he'd stood there and watched her give everything that should have been _his_; to his brother?

He didn't know. He only knew that _this_ time; he would choose to save her.

Klaus shot forward at vampire speed. He contemplated changing. To kill Marcel as a wolf would be a great victory. Marcel could attempt emulate him in many ways; but he could never be as powerful a beast as Klaus. On those terms; Klaus was already King.

He was stopped abruptly short. Elijah had rushed forward; leaving Caroline undefended; and put his body between Klaus and Marcel. He roughly grabbed Klaus' shoulders; gripping hard.

'No brother,' Elijah murmured beseechingly, 'You cannot.'

Klaus glared balefully at his brother. As if Elijah hadn't pushed his luck enough tonight. Now he presumed to tell him what to do?

'Now is the very worst time you could attempt to give me brotherly advice Elijah.' He spat hatefully.

Elijah frowned grimly; having the decency to at least look shameful.

Klaus shoved his brother out of his way, slightly harder than was perhaps necessary and without a second thought. He stalked towards Marcel; his hands curling into fists.

To his credit; Marcel didn't look one bit afraid. Good; Klaus had taught him that. Never let your enemy know that he is winning; even when he is. And Klaus _was_ indeed winning; it would take less than a second to rip Marcel apart. Only...

As he moved forward; Marcel gleefully took one step to his left. Caroline stood unmoving behind Marcel, her blue eyes wide with fear. Marcel had grabbed her while his idiot brother had distracted him.

Marcel smirked sickeningly; snaking out his arm and grabbing Caroline around the waist; pulling her against his body; making a despicable show of smelling her hair. Klaus could see her straining to move out of Marcel's grip; but he was older and stronger than her; her attempts to get away only served in ripping the delicate material of her dress at the waist; where Marcel's hand gripped her skin like an iron vice.

'Now now friend; there's no cause for us to fall out. I just wanted to meet your pretty girlfriend here.' He turned to Caroline; using his spare hand to caress her cheek. She glared at him furiously; defiance in the set of her jaw. 'She is spectacular after all.'

'Niklaus please.' Elijah had moved to stand beside him; he put his hand on Klaus' shoulder. 'Think about this for a moment. There are more important things to consider than-'

He glared at his brother so violently that Elijah stopped talking immediately.

More important than _her_? He didn't think so. The child that Elijah was so worried about was a means to an empire; a tool for power; nothing more. An empire would be an empty victory if she were not around to see it. _Nothing_ was more important to him right now; than her.

He furiously shrugged off Elijah's hand and took one step towards Marcel. He was hesitant to approach; Elijah had ruined his surprise attack; if he made one wrong move now, Marcel could kill Caroline before Klaus could get to her.

He saw the way she winced in pain as Marcel gripped her waist tighter.

Now that she was in actual danger; he found himself letting go of some of the resentment he felt about the kiss. It was against his very nature to forgive; it always had been. But she'd already ruined him in so many ways; that he found himself able to focus on something other than his anger, for the first time in centuries. He could be angry with her for the next thousand years; right now, he just wanted her safe.

'Unhand her; or die, Marcel; those are your choices.'

'This is my party Klaus; you don't make the rules here; I do.' Marcel snarled; finally dropping his pretence of friendship and showing his true self. His fangs descended and bloody veins flashed under his eyes.

Marcel was getting desperate. Good. Klaus could work with that.

'These people here are your friends, your family, Marcel. I understand...' Klaus murmured soothingly, gesturing to the terrified crowd surrounding them and smiling at Marcel.

Caroline's eyes widened in surprise; she shot a glare at him which clearly stated that she did _not_ understand, nor appreciate him being kind to Marcel.

'Understand _this_.' He said; his voice hard, 'I _will_ kill _every_ single person in this room; without hesitance, and without mercy, if you do not take your hands off of her.' He widened his smile; showing Marcel his teeth. 'You know I will do it.'

'And you know that I will assist him. You and your friends will be decimated. Let her go Marcel.' Elijah's calm, strong voice echoed in the near silent room as he joined Klaus at his side, rolling up his shirt sleeves. It was about time his brother did something useful.

Marcel laughed. He actually laughed.

Klaus clenched his teeth angrily; nearly snapping his jawbone.

'You know,' Caroline snapped; her voice a picture of annoyance. He started at the surprising familiarity of her tone. She'd used _that_ particular tone plenty of times on him. 'This macho bullshit is boring me.'

He blinked in surprise. Even when her life was in absolute danger she could still find the time to be a raging little bitch. She'd never really struck him as the damsel in distress type. Now he knew why. She was magnificent.

Marcel was clearly pleasantly surprised too. His lips began to curve into one of his trademark grins; he let his guard down for just a second. And she was on him.

Caroline elbowed him in the ribs suddenly; putting all of her weight behind her blow. She didn't do much damage; she was only a year old after all; but Marcel flinched in pain just long enough for her to make a run for it.

Marcel lunged for her; but Elijah was closer; he shoved Marcel hard; throwing him through the air. Marcel flew several feet into the air before he crashed into one of the marble pillars that surrounded the room. The pillar shattered; and Marcel landed on the floor in a heap; debris raining down on him.

The party guests; who until that point had watched all this unfold as though they were watching a performance; suddenly seemed to catch on to the danger they were in. As the marble pillar came crashing down; they ran, screaming and scurrying for the exits like ants.

Marcel's men surged forward; but those who dared to challenge him all met grisly and violent deaths at the hands of Elijah. The rest of them ran for their lives.

Caroline stumbled on the marble floor; trying to avoid the chaos of the fight and the waves of frightened guests. Her shoes were slippy and wet with blood. Klaus snatched her hand roughly and pulled her too him.

She steadied herself; her hands on his shoulders. He held on to her tightly; clutching frantically her waist. He could feel her bare skin under his fingertips, where the dress was torn.

She looked up at him; her blue eyes shining with unshed tears. If he was to allow it; he knew that she would apologise for what she had done; and that he would forgive her instantly. And although he prioritised her life above his hurt over her kissing his brother; he was in no mood to forgive her.

So he ignored her; he ignored her tears; ignored the pleading look in her eyes which begged him for forgiveness; he only glanced at her; checking methodically for signs of injury.

She was a little disheveled; but unhurt. He touched her cheek softly. He allowed himself a few fleeting seconds of relief; she was alive; she was unhurt; she was going to be safe. Good. But she had still been intimate with Elijah. And he still wasn't sure how to deal with that.

He removed his fingertips from her cheek and took a very deliberate step away from her. Her dainty hands; which had been clutching the collar of his shirt; stayed there in the air for a moment before she dropped them to her sides heavily. He saw the disappointment in her eyes. She swallowed hard and dropped her gaze from his guiltily. She understood the damage that had been done.

She frowned; her hand floating up to her cheek; her fingers coming away crimson and wet. His hands were still wet with the blood of the vampires he'd killed; he'd left a trail of blood on her pretty face. She rolled her eyes at him and scrubbed at her cheek with a scowl on her face. He almost wanted to smirk. Typical Caroline.

Elijah approached them; looking as calm as ever wiping the blood off of his hands with a silk handkerchief. He offered the handkerchief to Klaus to do the same. He scoffed at his brother and shoved the handkerchief into Caroline's hands without looking at her. She sighed sadly and busied herself with wiping the blood from her face.

Even after a thousand years Elijah couldn't bear to have blood on his hands; and still couldn't deal with the fact that Klaus _liked_ having it there. There was no better warning to those who would challenge you; than wearing the blood of fallen enemies on your hands.

'Where is Marcel?' Klaus asked, raising his eyebrow sardonically.

'He ran.' Elijah reported. He smirked slightly and tilted his head in amusement. 'He had a message for you though; he called it over his shoulder as he ran for his life. He requested that I inform you: that you will regret this.'

'I doubt it.' Klaus drawled, completely uncaring. The very idea that Marcel thought he could threaten him was preposterous. Him. The Original Hybrid. It was practically laughable.

'In fact,' he murmured; anger and the need for vengeance burning in him. He looked around at the now deserted ballroom; it was littered with blood and bodies. 'It is _him_ that will regret this night, not I.'

'Oh Niklaus no.' Elijah admonished; disapproval in his tone.

Caroline looked between them; confused as to why Elijah was suddenly full of condemnation.

Klaus couldn't imagine what it must be like for her; to be so devastatingly _young_. She had no idea what it meant to know someone; to love and hate them in equal measure for over a thousand years. Communication between him and his brother did not always require spoken words.

'What a waste of magnificent architecture.' Elijah sighed, frowning and folding his arms.

'Marcel needs to be taught a valuable lesson in loss my dear brother.' Klaus explained viciously as he stalked over to the secluded area where he had spent most of the night drinking with Marcel.

'What the hell are you two even talking about?' Caroline snapped huffily, pulling angrily at strands of torn silk at the side of her dress. She looked exhausted.

'Most specifically,' Klaus continued as though she hadn't spoken. 'He needs to learn that _I_ will be the one to take _everything_ from him.'

He shoved one of the tall candelabra's over; the sound of metal falling on marble reverberated and echoed loudly across the whole room. Caroline winced at the sound. Her blue eyes widened as she noticed that the still burning candles had fallen onto the bottom of a long gauzy curtain and across one of the plush armchairs. In seconds both the curtain and the armchair had orange flames crawling across them.

'You're going to burn it to the ground?' Caroline asked, her voice sounding a little sad, but not at all surprised, as she glanced around the once magnificent room.

He shoved over two more candelabras; taking pleasure in the vile scraping noise they made against the floor as they fell; and even more pleasure as he watched the furniture go up in flames. The vast room was filling with smoke. It was time for them to leave.

'Magnificent architecture aside,' Klaus replied sarcastically, striding back over to where Caroline and his brother waited, 'This place represents Marcel's power; it's part of his empire. And now it will be nothing but ashes. Because I made it so.'

'Can we please talk about your evil plans to overthrow Marcel in the morning? I'm tired, I'm hungry and I have soggy feet! ' she complained; looking every bit as irritated with him as the day he'd interrupted her as she planned the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant to ask her to go on a date with him. 'I want to go home Klaus.'

Some of the ice in his heart melted at her words_. I want to go home Klaus_. She'd called his apartment home.

Perhaps he could still bear to love her after all.

* * *

Caroline sank tiredly into the back seat of the car as Elijah gave the driver directions and compelled him not to notice anything at all; like the fact that the mansion before him was ablaze.

Klaus had stayed in the house; pushing over more candelabras probably. She didn't care. After the night she'd had; she really didn't want to be anywhere near that house anymore.

She was bitterly pissed off that her dress was ruined. She was in mourning for it already.

Elijah sat next to her in the back seat as the car pulled away from the house and she couldn't even muster a smile for him. Actually it was a little bit embarrassing; the last time they'd been alone together; they'd been all over each other. She actually suspected that some of the damage done to her dress had been done by his hands; not Marcel's. Awkward.

She felt her cheeks go warm. She reached over and opened the window to let in some cool air. It didn't make any difference. This was Louisiana. There was no cool air here.

Coming to New Orleans had not provided her with the salvation she had expected; if anything it was worse here than in Mystic Falls.

She wanted to call Bonnie and tell her about kissing Elijah. She wanted to call Stefan and whine about the danger Klaus had put her in. But she couldn't call either of them.

She drew a shaky breath that was in danger of turning into a sob. She could tell Elijah had noticed; he had turned to look at her. He was studying her face again.

She turned away; looking out of the window. Swamps and cornfields flew past the window as they sped away from the house; the night sky still tinged with orange from the blaze a mile back.

'Caroline.'

She tensed, readying herself for any of the several conversations she did not want to have with Elijah right now. She was so tense that she jumped slightly when he nudged her arm with something. She turned back to face him; startled.

In his hand he held a small disposable phone; the kind of phone that was pre-paid so that it couldn't be traced.

'Niklaus asked me to give you this. In all the excitement tonight; it must have slipped my mind. His and my numbers are already in there.'

She took it from him and flicked through the contact list. Sure enough there were both of their names. Her only two friends in the world right now. It was a shame that she was royally pissed off with both of them at that moment.

She was so exhausted; and so upset and confused about Klaus; that she forgot entirely that she was sat next to one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. She focused solely on the fact that she was angry with him. Being angry was easier than dealing with any of her other emotions.

'What did you mean when you said '_there are more important things to think about'_? ' she asked; glaring at him. Her voice was sharp enough to cut glass.

She saw Elijah clench his jaw uncomfortably.

'You know,' she pressed sarcastically, 'When Marcel was pretty much going to kill me and Klaus was going to stop him... _You_ told him that there was something more important than saving my life. So what was it?'

'Caroline,' he tried, his handsome face sad and apologetic. He reached for her hand. She snatched it out of his reach.

'No really, I'm curious Elijah,' she snapped, 'Just what exactly was it that I could have died for tonight?'

He looked at her softly; regret etched into his features.

'I wish that I could explain it to you Caroline. But I cannot. '

She scoffed and rolled her eyes; not caring one bit if he thought she was acting like a child. _He_ was the one who'd said all that crap about her being Klaus' guardian angel or whatever, and then _what_, suddenly her life was worth less than Marcel's? What the hell was wrong with these brothers?

'Please just know that I...' Elijah seemed, for the first time since she'd met him, at a loss for words. 'I did not say what I said with the intention of allowing you to be hurt. I was simply asking Niklaus to seek another option than an all out war with Marcel.'

'Erm what?' she asked in sarcastic disbelief, 'You and him could have ended Marcel in less than one second! Why the hell wouldn't you just kill him?'

'We are not in a position to-' he tried to reluctantly explain himself. When he was troubled; Elijah looked more human than she had ever seen him.

'Bullshit.' She snapped, cutting him off. She was too tired and too pissed off to listen to more excuses.

Nikalus and Elijah Mikaelson? Not in a _position_ to take out Marcel? What utter crap. They were the originals for god sake; they could kill off the whole world if they wanted to!

They were silent for several minutes.

Caroline seethed silently; trying to hold on to her anger. She was such a mess; she was barely keeping herself together. She wanted to sleep, she wanted to change her clothes, she wanted to talk to Klaus, she wanted Elijah to explain himself; actually she would quite like to avoid Klaus. She wanted to cry, to scream, to punch things. Her best friends were dead, she couldn't go home, and her mother was probably in danger. And she was all alone here with the Originals and their secrets; she was probably number one on Marcel's shit list, so she was probably going to die soon. On top of all of that she was going to have to deal with Klaus' uber sulk about the kiss. Ugh she _wanted_ to die.

She had just realised that Elijah had completely avoided telling her why he hadn't wanted Marcel to die when the car braked suddenly.

Caroline hadn't bothered with her seatbelt; seriously how much more danger could she end up in tonight? The seatbelt hadn't seemed so important in comparison to all she'd been through already. As she flew into the front seat and banged her head against the head rest, she sulkily realised that that had been just another mistake to add to her list for the evening.

'What the f-' she groaned; rubbing her head angrily.

'Stay in the car Caroline.' Elijah commanded. There was an edge to his voice that frightened her.

'What-?' she was so confused.

'Just stay in the car. No matter what happens.' He said, pulling her back up onto the seat from where she was still wedged in the foot well.

He squeezed her hand softly, just once, and then he got out of the car.

What the hell was going on?

She peered over the drivers shoulder; he would be no help; he'd been compelled into silence. She looked out onto where the headlights shone up the deserted dirt road they were on. And then she saw what had stopped the car.

Klaus.

He stood there with his arms folded; his face angry and unforgiving. He had stood in front of the car deliberately. He had been waiting for them.

Why had Elijah told her to stay? If Klaus was so angry with them; he should shout at both of them.

_Just stay in the car. No matter what happens. _Oh god; what did he mean by that? Did he think that he wasn't coming back? She'd known they would have to pay for that kiss sooner or later, but she hadn't thought that had meant Elijah would be in actual danger.

She jumped a mile in the air as she heard the automatic locks turn on the car. The driver used his controls to close her open window and then shut off the engine. With no power supply to the car; she had no way out. Had Elijah compelled the driver to lock her in? Had Klaus when he'd stood right in front of their vehicle?

Dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she saw Elijah walk into the light and stand in front of his brother. Klaus nodded tersely behind Elijah. Elijah turned and both of the brothers walked out of the light; and out into the darkness.

* * *

Klaus walked behind Elijah for a good five minutes. He wanted them to be far enough away from the car; so that Caroline wouldn't see them.

When he stopped his brother stopped too. Elijah turned to look at him; he had the gall to look disappointed. How dare _he_ be disappointed with Klaus; he was the one who had crossed a line; taken what was not his to take.

'Niklaus I know what you are going to say.'

'Do you Elijah?' Klaus sneered, stalking around his brother the way a lion might stalk around a wounded animal. 'What is that prey tell?'

'I did it to save her Niklaus; I did it for you.' Elijah sighed.

'Oh you think you did me a favour do you Elijah?' Klaus shouted at him; his hands itching to punch his brother in the face.

'Nik-'

'You could have anyone Elijah, _anyone_!' Klaus roared; clenching and unclenching his fists. 'Just not _her_.'

Elijah blinked in surprise. Klaus supposed that this was perhaps his first admission of romantic feelings in over a thousand years. His brother probably thought he was incapable.

'It was not my intention to upset you Niklaus. I believed that I was doing the right thing.' Elijah said solemnly. He reached for Klaus shoulder.

But it was too much for Klaus; he would not be pitied by anyone; least of all Elijah. His pathetic brother who had pined for the same woman for five hundred years.

He flung Elijah's hand from his shoulder in disgust.

'Upset me?' Klaus spat mockingly. 'I am not a teenage girl Elijah; I'm not about to cry into my pillow about this. That is _not_ the conversation we are having here. You _will_ stay away from Caroline from now on.'

'I think you will have to speak to Caroline about that.' Elijah snapped, looking irritated for the first time since they'd walked out into the fields.

It was Klaus' turn to blink in surprise. Was his brother seriously suggesting that Caroline _wanted_ him around? Had something happened between the two of them that he didn't know about? No; that was not possible. It wasn't.

That was it. Klaus had taken quite enough insubordination for one evening.

He snarled angrily, allowing his hybrid fangs to fill his mouth as he grabbed Elijah around the collar and pushed him hard; Elijah fell to the floor.

'Tell me exactly what you mean by that Elijah! Choose your words carefully brother; for they may be your last!' He roared at Elijah; kicking his brother in the ribs.

Elijah flew several feet before he regained his footing; rushing Klaus; tackling him to the ground and punching him in the jaw. Elijah stood up and straightened his suit as Klaus, lying on his back in the dirt, spat blood out of his mouth.

'She will not allow you to tell her who she can see Niklaus; I think we both know that.' Elijah frowned and tutted in annoyance as he discovered Klaus had ripped the collar of his shirt when he'd grabbed him.

'And you think she wants to see you do you?' Klaus spat with disgust and disbelief. He rose to his feet; fully prepared to rip Elijah in half if that's what it took to keep him away from Caroline.

'No, that is not what I am saying Niklaus-'

'After the way you disregarded her life this evening?' he purred, eyeing Elijah viciously and allowing smug victory to ring in his voice. 'Caroline does not forgive easily brother, believe me.'

'I did not-'

'Yes you did!' Klaus roared; all teasing forgotten. He shoved his brother violently.

Elijah staggered backwards but didn't fall. He attempted to regain his footing but Klaus kept on pushing forwards. Elijah was forced to walk backwards.

'You allowed him to touch her.' He snarled.

He shoved Elijah again, harder this time.

'You turned your back on her, and left her unprotected.'

Another shove, even harder. Elijah, seemingly shocked by his accusations, attempted to stay on his feet.

'You tried to stop me from saving her!' Klaus screamed at his older brother. 'You nearly got her killed Elijah.'

He didn't hold back his strength this time. He pushed Elijah with the strength only a hybrid could have. His brother shot backwards; crashing hard and loudly, into a tractor which stood stationary on the edge of the cornfield, destroying the machine completely.

He strode over to the wreckage; yanked his brother out; grasping him by the throat.

'You wanted me to sacrifice her, and let Marcel live.' He spat mockingly. 'All for your pathetic notions of family. Well, where _has_ the love of your family gotten you Elijah?'

He crushed his brother's windpipe; feeling small neck bones cracking under his fingers.

'You love her.' Elijah croaked out. Even though his voice was distorted, Klaus could see that his brother was surprised by that.

He grasped at Klaus' unrelenting hands, trying to remove them from his neck. Klaus loosened his grip for a second. The weight of Elijah's words hit him like a cinderblock to the chest. Those words that had never been spoken aloud before.

'Shut up!' he roared, slamming Elijah's head into the hard metal of the decimated machine.

'I thought she was just a passing fancy; but you _are_ in love with her Niklaus.' Elijah's voice was stronger now; with the conviction of his words.

Elijah got a grip around Klaus' fingers and pushed back; hard enough to force Klaus back a step.

'Shut your mouth Elijah, or I will shut it for you.' He growled; suddenly feeling very much like he was the one being attacked. That was Elijah's greatest gift; he had always been able to do far more damage with words than he'd ever done with his hands.

Elijah strode from the wreckage; reaching out for his brother. Klaus stepped back; not trusting the affection in his brother's eyes. Elijah put his hands on both sides of Klaus' face.

It had been centuries since Elijah had embraced him like this. Klaus was filled with the urge to push him away; he felt like a caged animal.

'I am sorry. I should not have suggested that you leave her in danger to spare Marcel.' Elijah apologised sincerely.

Klaus glared at him spitefully. As if _that_ was enough.

'_And_, for kissing her. I had no right. All I can offer you, brother, is my apology and my promise that it was simply a means to protect her, nothing more.' Elijah finished.

'Fine.' Klaus growled, wrenching himself out of Elijah's embrace. He could not afford a weakness like trusting in his brother's affection. So many times had counting on a sibling been a mistake. 'Do not touch her again Elijah. I will not forgive so easily a second time. '

Elijah rubbed the back of his neck where Klaus had nearly snapped it; shoving him against the wrecked tractor. He nodded affirmatively; he understood.

Klaus turned to walk away. This conversation was over. Besides; Caroline was probably spitting feathers about being locked in that car.

'You have to tell her Niklaus; about Hayley, and the baby.'

He heard the uncharacteristic defeat in Elijah's voice. It made his blood run cold. Klaus should have predicted that his brother would become all righteous about this. He should never have allowed Elijah to spend any time with Caroline. Elijah wouldn't dare tell her. Would he?

He spun gracefully back around to face his brother.

'I will not.' His answer was cold; and brooked no discussion.

'She deserves to know.' Elijah argued. He folded his arms and frowned.

That was always an indicator that his brother was about to stubbornly dig his heels in about something. Unfortunately for Elijah, this was an issue that Klaus would rather kill his only brother over, than discuss the possibility of telling Caroline.

In less than a second he had his hands wrapped back around his brother's neck.

'No.' He growled; glaring into his brothers eyes. 'She does not.'

Elijah would not be bullied this time however; that much was clear.

He pushed Klaus away from him; breaking the hold he had on Elijah's neck and punched him hard in the jaw. So hard that Klaus fell to his knees. Growling; he grabbed Elijah's arm; pulling him to the floor and hitting him hard in the throat. Elijah responded by shoving part of a fallen tree branch from the ground into the soft skin under Klaus' collar bone.

Klaus screamed angrily, on his knees, wrestling the offending wood from his chest. He felt the warmth of his own blood as it flowed down his chest.

Elijah stood, tall and completely unharmed in front of him. Despite the fact that they both knew that as a Hybrid, Klaus could destroy him in a fight, Elijah carried a certain dignified strength with him at all times. Perhaps because he was and always would be Klaus' _older_ brother.

'If you care for the girl like you say you do Niklaus then you cannot keep this from her. Not knowing might put her in danger.' Elijah told him, glaring down at him, as though irritated that Klaus had started another fight.

'No,' he snarled, wrenching more wood from his shoulder as the branch split inside of him, shards of wood preventing him from healing properly. 'You're only saying this because you want an explanation to give her for why you were so callous with her life this evening.'

He smirked up at Elijah, making sure to flick bits of bloody wood at Elijah's trousers as he removed them from his body. Elijah looked guilty at his words.

'Admit it,' he antagonised 'She gets under your skin doesn't she Elijah?'

He stood up, smirking at Elijah. He revelled in the fact that it wasn't just him who was affected by Caroline. He'd thought for so long that she was making him weak; and that must mean that there was something wrong with _him_. But if it was happening it Elijah too, then perhaps there was still hope for him.

'It's her _humanity_ Elijah. It's devastating isn't it? She's everything you wish you still were.'

He had meant to spit those words spitefully at his brother; but they had come out softer than he'd intended.

'And that is why she will forgive you.' Elijah murmured, catching his brother's eyes.

'That is not a chance I am willing to take.' Klaus muttered darkly in response.

The broken bits of wood still in his hand; he lunged for his brother.

* * *

She huffed and threw herself backwards in the seat.

She had tried to force the driver to unlock the doors; she had no idea how to override the locks; but her compulsion wouldn't break Elijah's previous compulsion on the driver to remain silent and not notice a thing. Her heart hadn't been truly in it anyway; she hated compulsion.

She chewed on her fingernail; agonising with worry over what to do. Elijah was probably in no real danger from Klaus... They were brothers after all... right?

But that didn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't murder each other. When it came to the Mikaelsons 'sibling' was a subjective term.

She didn't know what to do. She strained her ears to see if she could hear them shouting at each other but she heard nothing. She couldn't compel the driver to let her out; which meant her only way out would be to smash open a window and climb out. Which would be humiliating to explain; if the brothers showed up in a few minutes, having had their chat, and forgiven each other.

She turned the small phone Elijah had given her over and over in her hands.

She found Elijah's name in the small contact list and pressed call. It was ringing.

She squeaked in fright as she heard a loud, unexpected ringing in the car. The driver didn't even blink. He was like a zombie. If Elijah ever got back she was going to have words with him about what he had done to that poor man.

She peered over the edge of the seat; there in the foot well was Elijah's phone, lighting up the back of the car and vibrating pointlessly. She huffed in annoyance. She was sure he had left it in here with her on purpose.

Angrily she pressed Klaus' name and put the phone to her hear. Straight to voicemail. Great.

She groaned in frustration. She peered out of the widow; straining her eyes and ears for any sight or sound that might give her a clue as to what was going on out there.

Part of her had already adopted a 'screw them' attitude. If those two idiots wanted to kill each other then fine, they were welcome to. It would save a damn lot of innocent lives if those two were to disappear off the face of the earth that was for sure. But that was mostly her bad mood doing the talking.

The truth was that she cared for them both a little bit. Well Klaus, perhaps a little bit more than a little bit. But Elijah had grown on her too. Despite what he was; he struck her as someone who always tried to do the right thing, and she respected that. In another life she was sure she and Elijah would be great friends.

And of course, she felt guilty. She was the cause of this. She was the reason they were arguing. And she hated it because she had seen what a girl getting between two brothers had done to the Salvatores, and she would never have put herself and the Mikaelson brothers in this position if she had had a choice. It's not like she had feelings for them both; she was just an unfortunate victim of circumstance.

Oh, there was her bad mood again.

She refused to feel sorry for herself anymore. She hadn't done this on purpose. And in the grand scheme of things; Klaus and Elijah had probably fought over women for a thousand years. She wasn't going to be the reason that they ended up killing each other.

She sighed, leaning back against the seat and closing her eyes. Now that her immediate panic had dulled somewhat, she was feeling slightly resentful that they'd left her in a car in the middle of a field, in the middle of the night, when all she wanted to do was go home and sleep.

She really wanted to talk to someone. Someone from home. But she couldn't call her mother or Elena because Silas would be watching both of them.

She smiled when she remembered that _Matt_, was a thousand miles away from Mystic Falls. And she knew his phone number off by heart. It was hard _not_ to memorise a number when the person had had the same phone since eighth grade.

She had no idea where in the world he was; but for the first time she felt relived to remember that he was with Rebekah. While Caroline didn't particularly like that Rebekah was into Matt; at least she could count on the fact that Rebekah would protect him.

She started typing a text to Matt. She frowned. This wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. Matt didn't know that Bonnie was dead. Or about Stefan, or about Silas. What could she tell him? If she told him too much he would abandon his trip and go right back to Mystic Falls, to grieve for Bonnie and to save Elena from Silas. He was too much of a good person to turn his back on his friends.

So she lied.

_Hey Matt it's me, Care. Listen; don't go back to Mystic Falls;_

_stay wherever you are with Rebekah. Silas is back. We are_

_all ok though, we are in New Orleans with Klaus and Elijah. _

_Don't call home; don't contact anyone but me, on this number. _

_You never know who Silas is pretending to be. Stay safe Matt._

_I miss you. Xx_

She felt guilty again. They were _not_ all safe in New Orleans. But if Matt went back for Elena he could end up being killed. It was safer for him if he thought that everyone was safe. That way he would stay with Rebekah and not go wondering back into Mystic Falls.

Besides, she was hoping that Klaus would help her fix the entire Mystic Falls situation before Matt even thought about coming back.

The sound of a large bang and the scraping of metal made her flinch so violently that she dropped her phone.

Another bang followed, echoing through the night; loud; even over the chorus of the Louisiana bugs.

Oh god; they _were_ killing each other.

She looked around frantically for something to break the window with. Then, rolling her eyes at herself; she remembered that she was a vampire.

She shoved her fist through the window using her vampire strength; smashing the glass completely and wincing in pain as she cut open her knuckles. She crawled out of the now open window; snagging her ruined dress on the sharp edges of the frame and landing in an unladylike heap on the dirt road.

Then she took off running at vampire speed in the direction she'd seen the brothers go. If she focused; she could sense their scents; still lingering in the night air. It was difficult to focus; her hand blazed with pain even as it healed and mostly; all she could smell was her own blood; and the smell of fields surrounding her.

But she was getting close; she could hear vague shouts now and the sound of their scrapping was getting slightly easier to distinguish from the natural sounds of the night.

She moved past a patch of trees and then she saw them. They were fighting each other with moves so quick that even her vampire eyes had trouble following them. Mostly all she could hear were grunts of pain and curse words.

She rolled her eyes. _Seriously_? _These_ were the origins of her species?

She cleared her throat irately but they either didn't hear her or they didn't care that she was there. Jerks.

She realised with a start that she could smell Klaus' blood. Without her permission; her mind took her back to the two times he'd held her in his arms and fed him her blood. He had saved her life. Twice.

_After putting it in danger twice_ she thought wryly, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly at the memory of that argument.

Klaus pushed Elijah back; so that he rolled across the dirt for several metres. It was the first time they'd slowed down enough for her to tell them apart. Klaus was grinning; blood on the corner of his mouth. His or Elijah's; she didn't know.

Elijah shot up and flew at Klaus; taking him out completely and shoving his face into the dirt. Then Klaus twisted them around; so that Elijah was underneath him; grabbed his arm and snapping the bone; she heard the sickening crunch as it snapped. Elijah growled like an animal; but Klaus wasn't done. He reached up suddenly and as his fist caught the moonlight, she saw that he had a wooden branch in his hand. He plunged it into Elijah's chest.

Caroline stopped breathing; tears stung her eyes.

She knew; she _knew_ that only a white oak stake could kill Elijah; but that didn't make it any less terrifying to see what these brothers would do to each other. This had to end now.

She did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed her shoes off her feet and launched them; one at a time; at Klaus.

The first one hit him square in the chest.

He looked up; looking the most puzzled she had ever seen him. If he hadn't been covered in his brother's blood she might have laughed at the look on his face. He caught sight of her; recognition flooding his handsome features.

Once he'd seen her; she threw her other shoe at him; as hard as she could; to show him how angry she was with him. It hit him in the jaw.

'Easy!' he snapped; rubbing his jaw and getting up from where he sat perched over Elijah. He held up one of his hands in an irritable surrender as he walked towards her.

'Me?' she screeched incredulously. '_Seriously_? What the hell Klaus?'

He looked idly over his shoulder at where his brother; still on the floor; was trying to pull the wood from his chest.

'He'll be fine love. This was nothing; just a little spat.'

He actually smirked at her.

She shot him a look that she hoped conveyed her disgust and disappointment. And then she ran over to Elijah.

There was a lot of blood; but Elijah seemed quite ok. The branch protruding from his chest was slick with blood; as were his hands; so as he attempted to pull it out of him; his hands kept slipping.

She reached forward without thinking and pulled it out for him with one good wrench.

'Caroline.' Klaus growled; his voice full of dissent.

'What?' she snapped; whipping around to face him as Elijah sat up. 'Oh I'm sorry; was I supposed to leave it there?'

'You were _supposed_ to stay in the bloody car!' He shouted at her.

'I _knew_ it was you who locked me in. You ass!' she screamed.

Her blood was boiling with fury; her hands shook, even as she tried to help Elijah to his feet. Klaus had been right though; Elijah was fine; he didn't really need her help.

'Well if I could count on you ever doing as you were told I wouldn't have to-' he growled at her. He ran his bloody fingers through his hair; as he often did when he was angry with her. It left reddish streaks through his curly blonde locks.

'You shouldn't have any way!' She shouted over him; interrupting whatever his excuse was going to be. She stalked over to him; ignoring the fact that she'd lost several inches in height after hurling her heels at him; and prodded him in the chest with her index finger. '_You_ do _not_ get to tell me what to do Klaus! How many times-'

He looked really mad. He'd flinched slightly when she'd prodded him; Elijah must have hurt his shoulder. Good; he damn well deserved it.

'You would do well to remember who you are talking to Caroline.' He snarled at her; glaring at her so violently that if she'd been more sensible; she would have been afraid. As it was however; she was just pissed off.

'Do you know what Klaus; you're right.' She snapped; taking great pleasure in the surprise she saw spring onto his face. 'I _should_ remember exactly who you are. _You_ are the kind of monster who would drag his brother down a dirt road in the middle of the night and beat him half to _death_ when all he did was try to save my life!'

She saw the hurt in his eyes at her words. But she couldn't bring herself to care right then.

'Caroline.' She heard Elijah murmur behind her; warning in his tone.

She ignored him. Choosing to glare at Klaus instead. Klaus stood there; unmoving; unblinking; his face was as hard a stone; and unreadable. He always looked that way when she'd hurt him. Embarrassingly she felt tears fill her eyes. She couldn't keep doing this with him. He could be a better man than this; she saw it all the time. He would be everything she wanted him to be; he would embody all of the things that she could one day love about him. And then he would do something terrible like this. Something that would destroy that other man completely.

'_Why_ do you _do_ things like this?' she asked him quietly. She looked up at him imploringly; her tears spilling onto her cheeks.

She saw his jaw clench tightly; as he made every effort to ignore her question.

He looked at her for a second. In that second; she saw how deeply damaged he was. She saw in his eyes that he yearned to be the kind of man she could love; but the frown on his face told her that he knew he never could be.

She nodded her head; tears blurring her vision of his angelic face. She was inclined to agree with him. The world was too dark a place for Klaus. There was no such thing as love, or unconditional trust in his life. He would never stop being a monster; he truly believed that the only way to survive was to make people afraid of him. And she just didn't think that she could ever stand by his side and be ok with the things that he did.

'It's time to go.' Elijah said; his voice was sad and serious.

She wondered if he understood what had just happened between her and his brother. He probably did; there didn't seem to be much that escaped Elijah's notice.

They walked in silence back to the car.

Klaus got in the front, without a single word to either of them, sitting next to the driver who didn't react other than to turn on the engine.

Elijah opened the back door and brushed away all of the glass that had fallen onto the back seat. He held the door open for her as she climbed in. Her throat was dry and sore.

As Elijah got in the car and shut his door; giving the driver the address of Klaus' apartment, she reached down to the foot well and picked up both of their discarded phones. Elijah took his from her in silence. His hand left a smear of blood on her finger as he took the phone from her. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths; so that she didn't start sobbing. She was so tired and stressed that an overwhelming urge to cry was building inside of her. She was _so_ sick of the sight of blood.

The car journey back into the city was silent.

There was silence as they got out of the car at Klaus' building. Elijah left them without a word, only touching her hand slightly as a goodbye.

The walk upstairs and into the apartment was silent too. Klaus didn't even turn to assist her when she tripped slightly on the ripped skirt of her dress. He didn't talk as he unlocked the door and let them both in. He didn't turn to look at her as he headed right for the door to the room that she now knew was his bedroom.

'Klaus.' She murmured.

He ignored her; and kept on walking away.

'Klaus!' she snapped irritably. 'We need to talk about tonight.'

He turned slowly back to face her. She felt relieved for a second; that they would get to talk things through; to clear the air. But as soon as he turned there was a look on his face that she didn't like. Malice shone in his blue eyes as he walked over to her.

He traced his finger across her cheek bone; he was so close that his breath tickled her cheek.

'How about you get a shower first love?' he spat cruelly; his face devoid of any emotion. 'You reek of Elijah.'

She blinked; his words so cruel and his face so hard that she almost didn't register at first; how deeply hurt she was by what he'd just said.

He turned from her without another word; slamming his door behind him so hard it made the walls shake.

She waited until she'd closed her bedroom door too before she allowed herself to cry.

* * *

**A/N: So I pretty much went with the theory that because he was hurt and angry; he would pretty much accidentally sabotage everything he has with Caroline, because being angry with her is easier than being hurt, and I think Klaus would lash out at her to hurt her like she hurt him. I think that's what he's like on the show... kinda haha! I hope to God I havn't ruined Klaus for everyone! :) xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello everyone :) I cannot apologize enough for the lateness of this update! I started a new project recently and it's been insane. I work in television here in the UK, and the Christmas lead up in London just means crazy hours! Thank you for all of your likes and reviews in this time though; honestly, they are what have inspired me to take every spare ten minutes I can get these days to keep writing. **

**I hope that this part being written in a billion short stints doesn't take away from the quality! Let me know if you think so! This one's been tough guys, but I've got nearly 13,000 words here for you :) hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Caroline woke to the sound of beeping.

Disorientated; and with absolutely _no_ desire to face the day whatsoever; she buried her head further into the pillows. She scrunched her eyes closed and tried to will the awful beeping sound away. Annoyingly, the further she dug herself into the goose down duvet; the louder and more persistent the beeping seemed to become.

She growled in frustration; and threw herself up into a sitting position; sending several decorative silk pillows flying. She glared spitefully and angrily around the room to find the source of the noise.

It turned out to be the little black phone that Elijah had given her. For something so tiny; it sure made a damn lot of noise.

Grumbling and muttering under her breath like a true teenager; she crawled her way across the fluffy white bed and groped for the small black phone on the dressing table. She stared angrily and bleary eyed at the noisy little contraption for several seconds before her brain registered that it was beeping because she had a text message.

Several actually. Every single one of them was from Matt.

She rolled her eyes at the first message. She threw herself backwards into the bed with a sigh.

_Care, what the hell are you doing in New _

_Orleans with Klaus?!_

Okay first of all, he didn't have a leg to stand on; was he not swanning all over the globe with Klaus' foul sister? And secondly; she didn't need Matt to call her out on her obviously dumb decision to come here. She was quite aware of what a mistake she had made.

The second message she took more seriously. Clearly Matt had had time to digest the horrible facts that she'd disclosed to him last night. And he was panicking.

_What do you mean Silas is back? I_

_thought Bonnie put him down?! What's_

_going on Care? _

She flicked to the next text:

_Will you text me back?!_

And then the next text just read:

_Care?!_

There were thirteen more of those, exactly identical, sent every half an hour or so. In between each text she had also received several missed calls.

Matt was clearly freaking out.

She sighed heavily. Texting Matt last night had been a selfish thing to do. It had been in a moment of weakness when she'd desperately needed to speak to a friend. And in her defence, she _had_ wanted to warn him about the danger in Mystic Falls.

Summer was coming to an end and he was surely planning to head back to Mystic Falls. Matt hadn't applied for college as far as she knew; so Mystic Falls had to be his only destination once his ridiculous trip with the she-devil came to an end.

But as always, Caroline had, well, been Caroline. She had tried so hard to make a situation better that she had actually made it worse. She hadn't thought through the consequences.

Now Matt was freaking out; he was probably going to get on the first plane back to Mystic Falls. Which was pretty much the _last_ thing she wanted.

She furiously began typing out a message to him. She tried to talk to him like she normally would; as though everything was ok.

_Jesus Matt chill out! I don't know where you are_

_in the world but in Louisiana it's 6am. I've been _

_in bed doofus! _

Ugh; she had only slept for about three hours as well. She felt like crap. Vampires technically didn't need much sleep; but the last few days hadn't just been physically exhausting for her. She'd wasted half the night crying because of the idiot hybrid next door.

_Don't freak, everything is fine. We're only_

_in N.O. to get Klaus' help. Damon thought it _

_would work better if I was the one to ask Klaus for his_

_help... (Ugh!) We just realised last night that you _

_were the only one of us who doesn't know about Silas,_

_and we didn't want you, or Rebekah (I guess) going back_

_there only to get attacked or fooled if he's pretending to_

_be one of us. _

_We are working on the Silas thing; Klaus_

_thinks he's got a pretty good plan. The rest of us are _

_going to stay here safe and sound, while he and Elijah_

_go and deal with Silas. I'll text you when it's safe to go_

_home ok? But promise me that you won't go back there_

_until I've told you it's safe? Seriously Matt! Xx_

She pressed send before she could wimp out and tell Matt the awful truth. And god knows she wanted to tell him the truth. Just knowing that someone else shared her fears about Silas would make her feel so much less afraid. Especially Matt. Sweet, kind, caring Matt. He would tell her that everything would be ok; he would promise her that they would find a way to save their friends. She really needed that right now.

But she couldn't be any more selfish than she was already being. Knowing that he was going to stay put safely a million miles away would have to be enough.

She sighed and pushed the palms of her hands into her eyes.

She was a terrible person. She was a liar. But she'd done what she had to do to protect one of her last _living_ friends. Every word of that text had been a lie. Every word she had typed had been her dream version of how the last 48 hours should have played out.

In an ideal world; they would _all_ be here; safe and sound; under the protection of the world's oldest vampires. But since when could her life ever be described as _ideal_?

Caroline was quickly running out of options. And as furious as she was with _him_; she was so annoyed with herself for burning her bridges with Klaus in less than forty eight hours. He'd been her last and only option to save Mystic Falls.

Asking Klaus for help with Silas had seemed like the perfect idea; and she was totally prepared to admit that his face was the first that came to mind when she'd first realised that Stefan was _not_ Stefan. But now... all of her plans to save her friends were in tatters.

Unfortunately she and Klaus had never quite learned how to spend time with each other without being awful to each other.

So she had no choice now but to leave; to find some other way of getting rid of Silas. She would have to go back to Mystic Falls and try her best to convince Damon of the truth. And it would have to be today. Every day she hid away in New Orleans, without a solution, was another day Silas could kill or hurt Elena, or her mother.

Besides which; at the moment she would genuinely rather talk to _Damon_ than Klaus. Which really spoke volumes about the state of her relationship with the world's first Hybrid.

She heaved herself out of bed. There was no point in putting the day off any longer.

Her misery and bitterness over the night before burned in her stomach like acid as she began picking up her things that littered the room and shoving them roughly into her bag.

Half of her hoped that he would hear her packing and come in and try to stop her. But as she strained her ears; she couldn't hear a sound; other than her own breathing. Perhaps he was still asleep... It was only after 6 after all...

No. She was lying to herself. Even if he was awake; there was no way in a million years he would care that she was about to leave. Yesterday; maybe. But not today. Not after the way he'd looked at her last night.

She knew she wasn't exactly innocent in the whole thing. She'd done a terrible thing in kissing Elijah; she understood that. She'd even been willing to let go of the fact that, technically, Elijah had kissed her, _and_ that she had _only_ kissed Elijah in the first place because Klaus had put her in a dangerous situation. _Again_.

But she had still kissed his brother. And even though they weren't together, and she didn't owe him anything; she knew that that was crossing a line in their weird, totally non-defined relationship. She had been _going_ to apologise to him profusely; despite the fact that _he_ never apologised for anything.

Then he'd said what he'd said last night.

And all thoughts of apologising to him had left her.

In a lot of ways she could understand him lashing out. She knew him better than she would care to admit; and she knew that when he was hurt; he hurt everyone around him.

The day she'd walked into the Gilbert house to find Kol's dead body on the kitchen floor; and Klaus locked up with nowhere else to look, but at his little brother's corpse; he had lashed out. That had been the first time she'd really been able to come to terms with the fact that he too had a human heart; just like hers. And that he was capable of feeling loss, and love.

None of that had stopped her from being unkind to him that day however; and in his grief; he had lashed out and hurt her.

In some ways she'd always naively believed that no matter what happened between them; he would never truly hurt her; that he would _never_ treat her the same way he treated everyone else. Because he was _in love_ with her.

Now she was coming to realise that she perhaps shouldn't have just taken that for granted.

She had cried for hours last night. He had never been so unkind to her before; and she had not been prepared for that. That was the problem though; there were so many sides to Klaus that she just did not know; so many versions of his personality that she couldn't prepare herself for. He was such a complex man; and he had absolutely no control over his emotional responses. And that frightened her.

Elijah seemed almost constantly prepared for his brother to let him down. Perhaps that's what happened to you after a thousand years of disappointment? But Caroline was an optimist at heart; she believed in the goodness of people; and she _wanted_ to believe in Klaus.

But last night she had given into the tears; because she just didn't think she could do this anymore.

She could not be like Elijah; standing by, for hundreds of years while Klaus got worse and worse. Every time she had given Klaus a chance to prove to her that he could be a better man he had thrown it back in her face. There was only so much disappointment she could take before she called it a day.

And after the way he had deliberately set out to hurt her last night... she thought that that day had finally come. Even though she cared for him. He was too damaged for her to mend; she had to accept that and move on.

And then she needed to seriously reassess her attraction to men with heaps of emotional baggage.

For now; she just had to get the hell out of there. Out of New Orleans; and more importantly; out of Klaus' life.

She had no idea what was going on; but the Originals were definitely keeping something big from her. She had never seen Klaus so on edge... and the fact that Elijah had lied to her too last night when she had called him out on exactly why Marcel couldn't be killed... As curious as she was; she was positive that she was better out of it. Her presence here would only make things worse; she was sure of that too.

She shoved her legs into some jeans and pulled a deep purple camisole over her head; shaking out her blonde curls. Ideally she would have loved to have spent the morning lounging in the ginormous bath tub she'd seen in Klaus' bathroom yesterday. But she was a coward; and she was hoping to sneak out before he woke up.

Once she was dressed and packed, she lifted her bulky holdall over her shoulder and huffed at its weight. She really needed to learn how to pack lighter. Granted; when she'd dived onto the very next plane to New Orleans in order to escape Silas; she'd not known exactly how long she would be away for; hence the over packing. But in hindsight, she probably hadn't needed to pack the three extra pairs of boots and her patent scarlet 'just in case' stiletto heels.

Being a vampire; lifting the bag wasn't particularly a problem. But the dense and lumpy bag was rather uncomfortable to carry. And she would have to carry it; because she wasn't exactly counting on Klaus offering her a ride to the airport.

She didn't bother making her bed or tidying the room; she didn't even bother opening the curtains. She childishly enjoyed the idea of him waking up to a mess that she'd left and having to tidy up after her. The most childish part of her really wanted to exact some small vengeance on him for hurting her feelings.

She hesitated at the door; her hand hovering over the door handle as though she suspected it might be covered in vervain.

This was it. Now she would either walk out there and have to face Klaus... or she would walk out there, and walk straight out of the apartment and out of his life without a word. How many years would it be until she saw him again? Would he ever forgive her for leaving things like this?

She bit her lip viciously and forced herself to turn the door handle. She had to stop letting Klaus affect her life like this. If she allowed her life to become too entwined with his; it would be the end of her.

She aimed for a look of carefree nonchalance as she stalked towards the living room; her bag bouncing wildly against her hip as she attempted a confident strut out. If he did happen to be sat silently out there; there was no way she was going to let him see how much the last twenty four hours had upset her.

The living room was however; blissfully empty of all signs of life.

She breathed a huge sigh of relief; dealing with a spiteful Hybrid at this hour was the last thing she was prepared for. They were immortal; they had the rest of time to argue about this.

She tiptoed past the door to Klaus' bedroom. She stopped breathing; she was so desperate not to be heard.

It was dark in the living room. The sun couldn't be very high in the sky yet as there was little light stealing through the gaps in the curtains. Klaus must have drawn all of the heavy curtains across the windows in the night.

Her vampire eyes were adjusting to the darkness. The dreary look of the living room seemed to reflect her bleak mood.

As her fingers touched the brass door handle of the front door; she hesitated again.

She turned to look back at the darkened living room. Her eyes coming to rest on the door to Klaus' bedroom.

This could be the last time she was welcome in Klaus' home.

She had to take a deep breath to control her emotions. They were rebelling against her. Trying to break down the wall of denial she'd built up so strongly over the last year to defend her from her feelings for the Original Hybrid.

Caroline dipped her forehead and rested it against the cool wood of the door. She needed to do this for both of them. They made each other miserable. This tentative friendship they had tried to develop wasn't working for either of them

That didn't make it any easier to open the door and leave.

Maybe she should stay so that they could talk about it? Maybe-

_No._ She bereted herself severely. _No. Stop making excuses Caroline. Just go. _

She closed her eyes and let out another deep breath. God he was probably sat in his room laughing at her pathetic inability to leave. Right. She was leaving.

But before she left there was one thing she had to do.

She couldn't explain the desire that overwhelmed her suddenly; but before she left; she wanted one last look at the paintings that were hung on the wall around the room.

He hadn't told her so; but she knew they were his. She would recognise his work anywhere. If this was the last time she would ever be here; she wanted to take a look at the only parts of him she knew to be open and honest. His paintings were little pieces of the truest parts of his soul. She needed to see them. One last time.

She dropped her bag onto the couch and tiptoed over to the floor to ceiling glass doors that opened out onto to the balcony. As she reached for the heavy black velvet drape to pull it open and let in the early morning sun; she squashed down the niggling question of why this was so important to her.

She pulled back the heavy curtain. And then she screamed.

Blinding, burning pain shot through her every nerve ending as the weak, early morning sunlight hit her skin. It poured over her body like molten acid; robbing her of the ability to move; cutting off her scream of agony and shock as her every muscle seized up in pain.

Even though it took her less than a second to wrench the curtain back across the window; it felt like hours of torture. She collapsed onto the wooden floor; cradling her arms around herself; tears streaming down her cheeks. Her heart lurched sickeningly; she clawed at her sore, burnt fingers, searching desperately for her daylight ring.

She looked frantically at each of her fingers, through sore, watery eyes as her body healed itself. She already knew it was gone. As soon as she acknowledged that it was gone; the absence of it on her finger became horrifyingly obvious. She'd been so distracted this morning; she hadn't even noticed. She was so, so stupid.

She dragged herself off the floor, and sped, vampire speed back to her bedroom where she tore apart the room trying to find the ring. Panic flooded her system; bouncing through her veins. Her hands were trembling so much as she wrenched the sheets off the bed, that she almost couldn't grip them. Tears streamed down her face. It wasn't here.

Without even thinking about what she was doing; she sped back into the living room and pushed Klaus' bedroom door open with a bang. Manners be damned; this was an emergency and she needed his help.

Only; he wasn't there. His bedroom was completely empty. His bed was made to perfection; not a single wrinkle in the sheets. He clearly hadn't slept in it at all.

And then it all suddenly became crystal clear. His absence, combined with the fact that he had been the one to draw the curtains across all of the windows, could only mean one thing. For several minutes she just stood there; trembling and crying, staring at his empty bed.

Klaus had taken her ring.

Her blood was boiling and she felt sick. _No, no, no._ He could _not_ be doing this to her. Of all the sick, twisted things he could have done to her; this was by far the worst. He'd made her a prisoner. Had he done this to get back at her for last night? Was this some kind of perverse punishment? Did he think that taking the day from her was what she deserved for kissing Elijah?

This was exactly why she could never accept what he had offered her on graduation night.

He was pure evil.

Her cheeks felt like they were on fire; and her hands shook violently; and every part of her being wanted to scream and destroy every single one of his belongings in the apartment; she didn't. A deathly calm came over her as she slowly moved her eyes across his bedroom.

She was going in there. She was going to find where he was hiding the white oak stake. And then, for the good of mankind, she was going to murder the bastard.

* * *

Elijah took a sip of his coffee as he waited by the entrance of Lafayette Cemetery for his brother. He checked his watch; it was half past 6. The sun was only on the edge of rising; but the September heat was already stifling.

There were many, many things he resented his brother for. Dragging him out to the cemetery at 6am on a Saturday was just another thing to add to the thousand year old list. And naturally, Niklaus was late. Elijah despised lateness. His brother did it on purpose.

He had half a mind to enter the meeting with the witches without his brother. Niklaus tended to exacerbate the already tense situation anyway; and Elijah was sure that he could negotiate with the coven on his behalf. Elijah seemed to be the only one who genuinely cared for the child and its mother anyway. Numerous attempts to involve Niklaus in the child's progress had failed; three months had passed since their discovery of the child's existence and yet to Niklaus; the baby remained nothing but a means to power.

However, the witches had made this precarious deal with _Niklaus_, not with him. So Elijah had no choice but to wait for his infuriating, selfish little brother to make an appearance.

After fifteen more minutes passed and Elijah was riding a thin line between absolute annoyance and slight worry that something might have happened to his brother.

It was irrational of him to be worried; Niklaus was indestructible. But Elijah would always be Niklaus' older brother; and after a thousand years and many despicable deeds had passed between them; Elijah had come to accept that _nothing_ could completely destroy the love he held for his brother. He had to put his faith in that love; at times like this; when he would like nothing more than to murder Niklaus himself.

Finally at three minutes to seven; his hybrid brother swaggered down the street; twenty seven minutes late to their meeting; his mouth twisted into his usual smirk of disinterest.

Elijah furrowed his brow; frowning slightly. He was disappointed. He had hoped that last night's events with Caroline would at least resonate with his brother in some way. Niklaus had such a great capacity for love. If only he would allow himself to experience it. His brother, however, couldn't look any less affected by all that had happened the night before.

Without so much as a greeting; he raised his eyebrows at Elijah; as if to question why Elijah hadn't simply gone to the meeting for him.

Elijah bristled with irritation and impatience; a demand for an apology and a lecture on proper etiquette was on the tip of his tongue. He was silenced however, as the sound of his brother's phone ringing cut through the early morning quiet.

It was perhaps for the best; Niklaus never took any of Elijah's behavioural recommendations seriously anyway.

His brother frowned at the sound of the phone; pulled it out of his pocket; and then frowned again at the name on the screen. Caroline.

He quickly pressed the dismiss call button and shoved it back in his pocket; looking back up at Elijah as though nothing had happened. Elijah was intrigued; he'd have thought; after last night, it would be _Caroline_ ignoring Niklaus, not the other way around.

'Shall we,' Niklaus drawled, gesturing lazily towards the mausoleum where the witches were holding his unborn child hostage.

Elijah resisted the urge to scowl; keeping his features a mask of cool collection.

How his brother did not seem to want this child in the same way Elijah did, he would never understand. Family had always been of utmost importance to them; Niklaus especially; and this child was the miracle they all deserved after one thousand years of misery and suffering; running from their own father. Either Niklaus still did not _understand_ the importance of the baby; or he did not care. Either option filled Elijah with bitterness.

'Niklaus-' Elijah began, his tone clipped. There was no more time for dalliance.

His brother's phone interrupted him again. Elijah fumed and glared at his brother; who pulled the phone out of his pocket again and pressed the ignore call button. This time there was no emotion on his face.

But this look of false nonchalance was a look Elijah knew well; his brother wore it often. Niklaus was upset about something; but refused to acknowledge it. Quite a common occurrence when it came to his brother.

Unfortunately it usually meant that the people around Niklaus would suffer the sharper side of his tongue while he ignored what was truly bothering him.

This meeting with the witches was _not_ going to go well.

The phone began to ring again before Elijah had a chance to ask his brother what the hell was going on. This time, Niklaus simply snapped the small piece of plastic in half, and threw the pieces into the nearby hydrangeas, acting completely indifferent; as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening; as though he always snapped his phone in half every time he received a call.

This time; Elijah did not allow his brother to distract him with his odd behaviour. It took him less than a second of studying the hybrid before he noticed something about his brother which did not belong. There, on his brother's littlest finger on his left hand; was a small ring. A rather beautiful and delicate lapis lazuli ring. A ring that did not belong on his brother's hand.

'Tell me that you_ did not _do what I think you have done?' he asked in a dark voice; taken aback and outraged by his brother's sheer audacity.

Perhaps at this point; he should no longer be surprised by the depths his brother would go to.

Niklaus at least had the sensibility to look slightly remorseful. A frown tugged at the corner of his mouth and he didn't quite meet his brother's eyes.

'It is none of your business Elijah.' He snapped; looking up finally to meet Elijah's cold stare with a defiant one of his own.

Elijah was very rarely lost for words; but this time his extensive vocabulary and powers of reasoning completely failed him. In a manner that was most unlike him; he just gaped at his brother unbelievingly.

How his brother could claim to love this girl; and treat her so dishonourably was beyond his understanding. To take another vampire's daylight ring was the ultimate offence. He and Niklaus had both executed vampires guilty of such a crime in the past.

Elijah was tempted to remove the ring forcibly from his brother's finger and return it to the girl. But he would not. Family above all.

Niklaus, who had become instantly defensive, simply sneered at him. There would be no reasoning with him, so Elijah didn't even bother.

Elijah's patience was wearing thin; he shot a look at his brother that he hoped implied as much, and turned his back; stalking away in the direction of the mausoleum and fully expecting his brother to follow. As despicable as Niklaus' actions were; it would have to wait. Their unborn heir was more important.

He heard Niklaus follow him down the marble steps and into the mausoleum.

The light of hundreds of candles danced across the marble walls; creating deep shadows where the light couldn't reach. The scent of peppermint and sage filled the room. The witches stood in a circle; holding hands; Hayley and Sophie stood in the middle.

Hayley and Sophie turned to look at him and Niklaus as they entered. Sophie looked angry. And Hayley looked terrified.

'Did I not warn you that there would be consequences if you deviated from our plan to deal with Marcel?' Sophie spat furiously, glaring past Elijah, at Niklaus.

His brother stood behind him, leaning disinterestedly against a pillar, as though he could not be any more bored by the situation.

'What consequences are these love?' His brother sneered. His voice was light and teasing. But Elijah was quite familiar with the tone; these witches were about to suffer Niklaus' bad mood.

Niklaus stepped forward, into the light. He stood close to two of the witches, who were linking hands on the edge of the circle. Elijah saw them both tense in fear. It seemed that the coven as a whole were not as confident as Sophie seemed to be.

'Because it seems to me, that your threats are a little empty of late.' His brother smirked, and stalked forward, breaking apart the linked hands of the two witch women.

Sophie's cheeks flushed angrily, and she grabbed out for Hayley's arm, dragging her to her, and away from Niklaus.

'Just because we can't do magic doesn't mean that we can't control this situation Klaus.' Sophie snapped; glaring at Niklaus. She turned her gaze to Elijah. 'I assume you told him about the bond Hayley and I share?' she sneered sarcastically.

Elijah stepped forward at this. He should have known the only reason the witches had called this meeting was to once again attempt to prove to Niklaus that they were the ones in control.

'He is aware.' Elijah told her stiffly.

His brother glared at him balefully.

'Then why, exactly, did your brother openly attack Marcel and his men last night?' Sophie demanded, dragging Hayley even further behind her, as Klaus took another step forward.

'You made the morning papers,' one of the older witches snapped, tossing a newspaper at Elijah.

There on the front cover, was a picture of Marcel's plantation house, ablaze. Elijah frowned. In hindsight, he perhaps should have attempted to stop Niklaus from setting the fire.

'You must understand,' Elijah said softly, attempting to be polite. 'There were extenuating circumstances. Marcel took a friend of ours. Against her will.'

His brother whipped his head around to glare at Elijah fiercely. He clearly didn't want the witches to know anything of Caroline. But Niklaus was out of chances, as far as Elijah was concerned. Niklaus had had plenty of time and opportunity to save this child, and yet, here they were, the baby still in the hands of a witch, who seemed worryingly ready to die for her cause.

Elijah stepped forward.

'Nothing has changed. Yes, Marcel lost men last night, but his actions could only have lead to a confrontation with Niklaus and myself. If we had simply ignored his behaviour, he would have been far more suspicious.' He reasoned. 'If Niklaus had allowed those indiscretions to simply happen without complaint; Marcel would deduce that my brother is doing everything he can to remain close.'

'I told you that you needed to become part of his inner circle. That is the only way that this is going to work!' Sophie shouted at him, her grip on Hayley's arm was making the girl wince.

Hayley looked up and caught Elijah's eye. She was frightened. He didn't know what had been said before he and his brother had arrived here today; the scent of the sage in the air meant only one thing. The witches had not wanted anyone to overhear them. Elijah was getting the girl, and the child, out of there today.

'The way _what_ is going to work Miss Deveraux?' Niklaus sneered at her; his eyes were dark and dangerous. His brother seemed to have also noticed Hayley's discomfort.

'I don't have to tell you anything.' Sophie spat.

His brother walked right up to Sophie. The witch took several quick steps back, pulling Hayley with her. She slipped a knife from her sleeve and pressed it to her own heart.

'I will kill her.' Sophie warned, her eyes wide and full of passion. She clearly believed desperately in her cause.

She pushed the knife gently into the skin above her breast, just enough to break the skin. Blood pooled from the wound; on her chest, and also on Hayley's. Hayley made a sound of surprise and of pain, clutching at her chest as deep red blood seeped slowly through her fingers. She looked up at Niklaus with wide eyes.

Niklaus eyes flashed angrily and he reached forward swiftly; grabbing the arm in which Sophie held the knife.

Elijah rushed forward, breaking through the circle of witches. They screamed behind him, panicking; the situation had clearly gotten far more out of control than they had planned.

As Niklaus crushed Sophie's arm in his vice like grip, he glared into her eyes.

'You do not threaten me!' Niklaus screamed in her face.

'Niklaus no!' Elijah shouted, grabbing his brother and pulling him roughly away from Sophie.

His brother shoved him violently away, and spun back to face Sophie. Elijah reached up and forcibly held him back. Sophie was smirking victoriously.

'Look!' Elijah demanded. Pointing at Hayley.

The poor girl was trembling a few feet from where the brothers stood. Some of the witches had moved to stand next to her, arms around her. She had an angry purple bruise around her wrist, identical to the one that Sophie now had around hers.

His brother growled angrily, shrugging out from Elijah's grip. He stalked around the mausoleum like a caged tiger. He didn't say a word. Elijah knew that his brother regretted hurting Hayley. That was a start at least.

'Give her to me. Now.' Elijah demanded, reaching out for Hayley. His voice was cold and dead. It was moments like this when he gave in to his murderous nature.

'You cannot be harmed Sophie, but the rest of your coven can be.' He threatened menacingly. 'You may think that killing yourself and the girl is a victory for you, but let me tell you this. If that happens, I will kill every single witch in New Orleans as vengeance, and the ancestral magic which you are so keen to restore will never be practiced here again. Your magic will die with you.'

Sophie's eyes widened. For the first time; she seemed to realize who exactly she was dealing with. Niklaus had been right; this little witch had presumed too much when she had thought that she could manipulate the Originals. Yes, Sophie had all the leverage. But she had clearly not accounted for the consequences that would follow if she were to take this child from them.

'The deal still stands!' Sophie insisted, clenching her fists.

'Yes, it does.' Elijah replied softly.

His brother turned swiftly back to face them. Elijah felt for his brother then. There was a haunted look in his brother's eyes. Elijah knew that Niklaus had not wanted, nor asked for this child. But it seemed, that when the life of the child really had been in danger, Niklaus had defended it. He could see it in his brother's eyes; Niklaus _wanted_ this child.

Elijah's heart swelled with hope. Perhaps salvation was on the cards for his brother after all.

'We will still help you get rid of Marcel.' Elijah spoke directly to Sophie, looking the young witch right in the eyes. Despite the fact that they were on opposite sides, he did respect the girl's bravery. 'And in return, you will not put Hayley or the baby in any danger.'

'Unless you give us reason to.' Sophie glared at him.

Elijah sighed. He had hoped that his somewhat peaceful relationship with Sophie would remain. But as predicted, Niklaus had added a considerable amount of tension to both sides.

'Indeed.' Elijah conceded grudgingly.

He heard his brother scoff from the other side of the room. But Niklaus didn't offer any other solutions, nor did he offer up any more threats. Elijah was pleased to see his brother finally taking the life of the child seriously.

'We will fix relations with Marcel.' Elijah continued.

Sophie nodded in agreement.

'However, as a sign of good faith between us, you will release the girl to me.' He finished.

Sophie looked as though she had strong opinions on that.

'Now.' Elijah said, in a barely disguised growl. He raised his eyebrows at the young witch; hoping to remind her once again, of how dearly the witches of New Orleans would suffer, if she wronged him.

Sophie shut her mouth and nodded.

There were mutterings of dissent amongst the witches. Elijah ignored them and reached out his hand towards Hayley. It warmed his dead heart, to see all of the fear melt from her face; her eyes were wide and hopeful, as she clasped his hand in hers and allowed him to pull her towards him.

'Why don't you, ahem,' he took a look around the scant surroundings in the mausoleum; at the camp bed in the corner that had clearly been Hayley's for the last few months. 'gather up your things.'

Hayley looked from him to the witches and bit her lip. It took Elijah a second to understand her look of hesitance. It seemed that despite living in constant threat of being murdered by Sophie, Hayley had made some friends in the coven. And she was clearly unwilling to admit that in front of him.

'I will give you some time to say your goodbyes. Niklaus and I will be waiting outside for you.' He murmured soothingly, squeezing her hand.

He watched Hayley pack her things into a small canvas bag. Sophie came to stand next to him. She looked up to meet his eye.

'Keep your brother in line. She doesn't have to be in my sight for me to kill her.' She muttered.

It sounded like a threat, but as Elijah looked into the girl's eyes, he could see that she wasn't overly thrilled about the possibility of murdering a pregnant girl and her baby. He knew that Sophie would do it, if it came down to it. Just as her sister had sacrificed her own life. But Sophie was not a murderer at heart, and she would take no pleasure in it.

'Understood.' He said, nodding at her and then turning to leave.

His brother had already left without a word; he probably wanted nothing to do with finding Hayley a more permanent home. Elijah was surprised then, to find him perched on the edge of a gravestone outside of the mausoleum, waiting for them. His brother's face was a mask of confusion and torment. He was holding the two broken pieces of his phone in his hands.

Elijah sighed and went and sat next to his little brother in the sun.

'You need to return that ring Niklaus.' He said softly.

They both stared at the small ring on his brother's hand.

'I _know_ Elijah.' His brother muttered sulkily, looking away.

Elijah knew better than to push the subject any further. He desperately wanted to talk to Niklaus about what had happened in the Mausoleum. He wanted to know more than anything; what had made his brother suddenly decide to care about the life of the child.

But he knew better than to ask.

Getting Hayley and the baby somewhere warm and safe was his priority right now, and he couldn't very well do that if his brother snapped his neck for attempting to have a personal conversation with him.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it back on. He'd turned it off for the meeting with the witches, but he was constantly hoping that Rebekah would eventually start returning his calls. He felt his shoulders stiffen. He had thirty seven missed calls from Caroline. Because obviously she couldn't get through to Niklaus.

The phone began to buzz in his hand. She was calling again. This was the very _last_ thing he needed.

Against all of his better judgement; he clicked the answer call button before Niklaus could do anything about it. In truth; Elijah felt guilty. He had encouraged her to stand by Niklaus. But how could she when this is what she got in return? She suffered Niklaus' demons in the same way he and his siblings had for over a thousand years. Only she didn't _have_ to stick around like they did.

He barely managed to get out a hello.

'Where is he?' she demanded; her voice low, dangerous and seething with fury.

He looked up and caught Niklaus' eye. His brother's glare was suddenly mocking; challenging; as though daring Elijah to give away his current location.

'What is the matter Caroline?' Elijah asked, keeping his voice calm and steady.

'With all due respect Elijah,' her words were clipped, as though she were having some difficulty getting them out. He was quite familiar with this kind of fury himself; Niklaus had a unique talent to instil a person with the rawest and most powerful anger a person would ever feel in their existence. 'Do not bullshit me right now! He's taken-'

Her voice cracked; as though she was fighting tears. His heart ached for her. Because he already knew that Niklaus would not do anything to make this up to her.

She took a shaky breath and composed herself.

'He has taken my daylight ring Elijah.' She spat.

He took a deep breath himself and rubbed his hand across his tired eyes. He turned his back on his brother. He couldn't look at him anymore; the lack of remorse on his brother's face was seconds away from starting another fight between them.

'I'm aware.' He answered; trying to convey his deepest sympathies in those two words.

He heard his brother hiss angrily from behind him, but couldn't find it in himself to care. If Niklaus' precious feelings were hurt that Elijah was sympathising with the girl; perhaps he should take this as a life lesson.

'How do you...? Oh, so he is with you?' she snapped, making no effort to distinguish her anger with Klaus from her annoyance with him. He was getting the brunt of this while his selfish brother sulked beside him; eavesdropping. This was just typical of Niklaus. Here Elijah was again; cleaning up his brother's mess.

'Yes he is with me.' Elijah sighed. 'Perhaps you would like to speak to-'

'I would rather go a thousand years without a bath; than talk to your loathsome brother ever again Elijah!' she interrupted in a shrill voice. 'You tell him that if he comes back here; I'm going to kill him!'

'Caroline...' he attempted.

But there was no soothing her.

'How could he do this to me Elijah? I could have walked outside and died!' she yelled; her voice rough.

Elijah had a great many strengths; but he was not equipped to deal with an angry, hurting woman. He turned back and stared at his brother imploringly; trying to communicate that Niklaus must fix this situation. His brother however, sat obstinately still, and did not move a muscle to help Elijah. Niklaus' inability to apologise was becoming a serious problem for both of them.

He turned away from his brother again, fuming. He should have known better than to expect Niklaus to care about what he had done. And even if he did actually care about how he had wronged this poor girl, he would never admit it for fear of looking weak.

'I almost couldn't believe it; but then I remembered that he's Klaus you know,' she was ranting; clearly on the edge of furious tears. 'He's selfish and horrible, and he doesn't care what he does as long as he gets what he wants!'

She wasn't speaking with anger anymore; instead her voice was full of acceptance. She was right of course. He didn't dare turn back to see the look on his brother's face.

He felt sorry for Niklaus; hearing such things from the mouth of the woman that he loved could not be at all pleasant. But his brother had never, ever taken responsibility for his actions. Perhaps now he would.

'I hate him Elijah!' This time she did sob. 'I can't do this anymore, I can't-'

'Enough!' Niklaus muttered angrily; surprising Elijah by wrenching the phone from his grip.

'Caroline, I will return your bloody ring this evening!' He snarled down the line.

Now it was Elijah's turn to eavesdrop.

'You unimaginable asshole! Bring me that ring back now Klaus, or I swear to God-' She screamed.

'What, what are you going to do about it Caroline?' his brother sneered.

There were a few moments of silence on the line. Then she whispered shakily:

'I'll leave Klaus. And I won't _ever_ come back.'

His brother barely reacted; other than eyes widening slightly at her threat. But Elijah knew that that was the cruellest thing she could punish him with. Niklaus knew, just as Elijah did, that this girl made him a better man. That she was his chance, probably his only chance, to know love.

Niklaus clenched and unclenched his jaw; his knuckles turning white as he gripped the phone tightly.

Elijah braced himself for an onslaught of cruelty. She had hurt him; now he would hurt her back; much, much worse.

Then Elijah saw something he had not seen in over a thousand years.

Niklaus conceded defeat.

'Fine, I will return it to you immediately.' He muttered, huffing out an irritated breath.

Had Elijah been a less dignified man; his jaw would have dropped to the floor.

'_If_, you promise not to leave the second it is back on your finger.' He barked at her.

Conceding defeat his brother may be, but that apparently didn't mean he was going to be nice about it.

'If you think, for one minute; that I am going to-' she argued, indignant.

'You and I need to have a conversation,' his brother growled angrily into the phone. 'You will promise to stay, or you can wait until sun down to get your ring back.'

'Fine!' she spat, furious. 'Get your ass here, now!'

She hung up on him. Just like that.

Elijah had to admire the girl. She was brave.

Niklaus snarled viciously and launched Elijah's phone into the rough stone wall of the cemetery gate; where it smashed into pieces. He offered no apology to Elijah for the destruction of the phone.

He spun angrily on Elijah; as though Elijah had been complicit in this plan to piss him off.

'You will attend to finding the girl a new home Elijah. Just shove her in one of the bloody properties we own around town will you and be done with it!' he demanded, scowling at the thought of dealing with Hayley and the baby.

'But Niklaus-' Elijah tried. He still held on to the hope that Niklaus was now more interested in the child's wellbeing.

'Be done with it Elijah.' His brother snapped at him over his shoulder, already stalking furiously out of the cemetery.

Elijah watched him walk away until he turned a corner, and vanished from sight.

As ever when dealing with his brother; he was left with mixed emotions. On the one hand; seeing his brother almost admit to a wrong doing, and almost be contrite about it, was a beautiful thing. He had never seen Niklaus go back on anything he'd done; his brother would stubbornly hold out that he had done the right thing at the time for centuries; never once admitting a mistake. One sentence from the girl and he'd instantly recanted.

But now of course, it was probably too late. Taking the girl's daylight ring was crossing the line.

Elijah pushed it to the back of his mind. What will be will be. If Caroline left his brother forever this afternoon... well, Elijah would just have to deal with the consequences. As he always did when his brother got upset.

He had other things to deal with.

He stood and walked over to the top of the Mausoleum steps where Hayley stood waiting for him. Elijah wanted this baby to be safe and well. It was time to find the youngest Mikealson a home.

* * *

He'd had every intention of going straight home and returning the lapis lazuli ring to Caroline.

But Klaus couldn't bring himself to do it. He was prowling up and down St. Ann Street; he had been for the last forty minutes. He was only seconds from the apartment where he had trapped her. He could go up there and fix this.

But he was afraid.

It was an odd sensation for him. It had been an odd bloody day.

He strode into Rousso's, and hailed the bartender for a drink. He couldn't give a damn if Sophie was working here today. This was his favourite bar, and he needed a drink. He grabbed the bottle before the bartender could take it away. The guy just shrugged and turned to his next customer as Klaus left the bar and settled himself at a small table in a dark corner.

He poured as much bourbon down his throat as he could without drowning himself. He was not familiar with, or fond of this feeling of apprehension that was lurking in his gut.

He wasn't afraid of Caroline, god forbid; she was but a child. But he _was_ terrified of what might come after. He feared that she might turn her back on him for eternity after this. He couldn't bear the thought of who he might become, after he lost her.

Klaus had never had much of anything to lose before. And today had brought him the potential loss of _two_ things, that only this morning, he had been positive he could have lived without.

Caroline and the baby.

Turns out; that he couldn't live without either. But unfortunately; he could not live with both.

He dropped his head into his hands and sighed heavily.

He cared deeply for Caroline, and he'd thoroughly believed that as soon as she found out about the baby; she would never want anything to do with him again. But he knew he could hide it from her if he needed to.

The situation being what it was in the Quarter; the baby's life had to be a secret any way. And Caroline wasn't going to be in New Orleans forever; he knew she'd applied to college. September was upon them... and if he knew her at all; there was no way Caroline was going to miss out on a college experience.

So despite the baby probably being the one thing that would convince her that he was not worth her time... he hadn't really had to think about losing her as an immediate possibility. They were immortal... they had plenty of time. He hadn't thought for a second that after just over twenty four hours spent with the girl; he would do something completely _worse_; that would push her away.

He'd known it was a low move to steal her daylight ring as she slept; but he'd been desperate.

He'd sat up half of the night, listening to the sound of her crying. Desperately trapped between the satisfaction that she was finally crying over him, and the intense desire to go in there and apologise for every bad thing he had ever done; if it would make her smile.

In the end, his insurmountable pride had stopped him from so much as going in and asking her if she was ok. And so, when she finally fell asleep, he'd sneaked in to check to see if she was alright.

Her cheeks had still been wet from her tears as he'd perched on her bed, watching her sleep. It was the moment that he took her hand; and looked down at the ring on her finger... He had been struck with the horror that she might want leave the second she woke. And so he took the ring. So that she couldn't leave him.

He knew it had been wrong; but he loved her enough to do the wrong thing!

Not that he had any idea of how to explain that to _her_.

Because telling her the truth was not an option for him. His whole life had been filled with one betrayal after the next. Honesty was for the foolish and the weak.

He swallowed more bourbon, closing his eyes and enjoying the way it burned him on the inside. He felt like; if he focussed on the burn enough; he wouldn't have to deal with what he had done today.

After betraying Caroline's trust; he'd then gone and allowed his temper with Sophie Deveraux to endanger the life of his child. Yes; _his_ child.

That is what had flashed through his mind when he'd seen the blood spilling from Hayley's chest. Inside of her, the _life_, living inside of her, was part of him.

He hadn't wanted this child. When Sophie had told him about it; he had wanted it dead. It was a weakness; it could only be used to hurt him. And it had been; the witches were making a little bitch out of him.

It was the one of the greatest insults he'd ever had to endure; and yet, he _had_ endured it. He hadn't realised it at the time, because he had been so _against_ even contemplating the idea of the child. But the fact that he had allowed himself to be used by a coven of pathetic witches, with no magic... must surely mean that he had cared for that child before he had even properly accepted its existence.

The potential of its death, had kept him in line.

And today; when the child's life was in danger, right in front of his eyes: the desire to protect the baby had overwhelmed him. In that moment; almost against his own will; he'd imagined _who_ the child could be. Whether it would be a boy or a girl. What it would look like. And he had _wanted_ it. In that second, he hadn't just wanted the child to survive, he had wanted it to _live_.

He had tried to get the knife away from Sophie and in doing so; he had hurt Hayley.

It was a mess. His life; was a mess. And he didn't know how to fix it.

Thank god for bourbon. The solution to all of life's problems.

He tipped the bottle into his mouth and leaned back against the booth with his eyes closed.

'That's a _lot_ of bourbon for half ten in the morning.'

His eyes snapped open. Camille was sat across from him, that knowing smile of hers was on her face. Unfortunately; he was in no mood to be social.

'Sometimes alcohol is all a man has left Camille. You should know; in your line of work.' He muttered, not matching her smile with one of his own.

'I do,' she conceded, nodding thoughtfully, playing with the salt and pepper shakers on the table in front of them. 'But in my experience, that man has chosen alcohol, rather than to solve his own problems.'

He rolled his eyes.

'You're taking the bartender advice thing a little bit too seriously love.' He raised his eyebrows sarcastically and took another swig out of his bottle.

'Perhaps,' she murmured, smiling. 'But I _am_ a bartender here, and I _am_ cutting you off.'

She swiped the bottle from his fingers, and stood up. He was too surprised to do anything about it. The bottle was gone before he knew it. He scowled. He liked the women, but she had no right to-

She put her hand softly on his shoulder and his annoyance escaped him. She had such a kind smile. And her eyes were so full of genuine _understanding_. There was something about this blonde bartender that he couldn't put his finger on. She made him feel... better. She spoke to him like he was still human. Even though she knew damn well that he was not.

'Go, Klaus. Trust me on this. Go and face whatever it is that drove you in here. You'll feel better.'

He seriously doubted it. But he got up none the less. He couldn't muster a smile for his favourite bartender, but he hoped that she saw some kind of gratitude in his eyes. He didn't necessarily believe in what she had said, but he appreciated that she had tried.

He dropped some cash on the table and watched her walk back to the bar with his bottle of bourbon. He eyed the bottle longingly. Drinking that would have been so much more enjoyable than facing Caroline.

* * *

Caroline sat on the floor of his bedroom. She was defeated.

She hadn't managed to find the white oak stake as she'd blitzed through his things. The blinding fury that had seared through her veins had eventually run its course, and without it; her desire for murder had lessened slightly. Even throwing Klaus' possessions around the apartment had soon lost its appeal.

She'd been sat on his bedroom floor since he had told her that he was coming straight back with the ring. The room around her was a disaster zone; she was surrounded by pulled out drawers, piles of clothes, shoes and an up ended mattress. There were paintbrushes and paint pots scattered all over the floor. She'd found journals, letters, small sketches, books; all things that, had she been having a completely different day; she would have loved to have snooped though properly.

After waiting over an hour for him to turn up; she had experienced great satisfaction grinding his charcoals into the carpet with the heel of her boots. But that satisfaction had only lasted so long. As she stared at the ruined carpet now; she felt twinges of guilt; which made her so annoyed with herself that she felt sick. He deserved a lot worse than a damn cleaning bill.

She called Elijah again, only to find out that Klaus had left him right after their phone conversation; and that Elijah had assumed that Klaus was bringing the ring straight to her. Great, just great; The Original Hybrid was MIA with her daylight ring.

She was at a loss; she had no idea what to do.

Obviously; she wasn't going anywhere until the sun set. But there was no way she was just going to patiently sit there until Klaus deigned to bestow his presence upon her, _no_, she was _not_ going to sit here and wait for him.

She had made it quite clear what the consequences would be for him if he didn't return the ring straight away.

She shoved herself onto her feet, chewing her lip angrily. Fine. If he seriously wanted to do this to her; if he was genuinely going to steal her daylight ring from her, then fine. She was Caroline Forbes. She would deal with it. She would find a witch who would make her another one. She hoped. And as soon as the sun set over New Orleans; she was out of here.

Her bag was packed and ready to go; she had left it on the sofa near the front door. All she would have to do was sit and wait for sunset. _Sunset_. Not Klaus.

She strode into the living room with every intention of doing just that. She stopped short when she saw the Hybrid sat silently in the dark living room. She hadn't even heard him come home.

His hands were clasped together under his chin, and his head was bowed; his eyes closed. She could see her ring on the smallest finger of his left hand.

She glared at him for a second or two in wide eyed fury. Her mouth opened and closed a few times while she failed to vocalise exactly what she was feeling. The betrayal and anger that she'd felt the second that she'd known he'd taken the ring were bubbling back up to the surface; threatening to overcome her.

Her throat ached and hot tears blurred her vision. She hadn't actually thought about what it would be like to face him. All she had cared about was getting the ring back. She hadn't really focused much on how she felt about _him_. And what he had done.

She took a deep breath and closed the distance between them in less than a second. She now stood right in front of where he sat. He had yet to look at her.

'What the hell,' she spat, her voice quivering with suppressed fury, 'were you thinking? How _dare_ you.'

He looked at her then.

And she tried not to flinch as he raised his eyes to hers.

His stormy blue gaze blazed so intensely that she could barely stand to meet it with her own eyes. There was regret and sorrow in his eyes, but also anger, and pride. Looking at him then was like looking directly into the sun. He was beauty and he was death.

'Caroline...' he muttered.

He tilted his head and opened his mouth as though he wanted to explain, his eyes soft and vulnerable for a fraction of a second... but then he didn't. He closed his mouth, and stared at the floor; hard; as though he wanted to memorise every splinter of the hard wood floor.

'Do you even understand what you did to me today?' she pushed out through clenched teeth.

Her fists clenched and unclenched by her side; every single muscle in her body was coiled and tense.

He flinched at her question, but didn't remove his gaze from the floor boards.

'You...' her voice rose as she finally gave a voice to all of the hurt, and anger that she had been pushing down all morning. 'You crossed the line Klaus. Not only did you trap me here against my will; you _stole_ from my while I was asleep! I _trusted_ you; I believed that I was safe in your home, and you betrayed that trust completely! _And_ you endangered my life! I-I could have died today!'

She was yelling now. Bordering on hysteria as the tears threatened.

'I could have walked out there and burnt up in the sun!' she screamed at him, pointing wildly in the direction of the front door. 'But maybe that's what you wanted!'

Fear tingled at the base of her spine. Perhaps it was her survival instinct kicking in. She ignored it. She knew she shouldn't push him so hard; but she couldn't stop. She'd never been this consumed by anger before.

She raised one eyebrow, eyeing him sarcastically.

'What? Were you punishing me for last night? Was this your idea of revenge?' She snarled viciously.

He didn't answer.

She huffed out a furious sigh. All she wanted was an explanation. She needed to know _why_.

'You better answer me Klaus! What the fuck were you thinking?'

He remained silent.

She could see that he was gripping the leather edge of the sofa very tightly in his hands. Her sensitive ears could hear the material creaking and cracking under his powerful fingers. His lips were pressed into a tight line; so tight that his raspberry lips were turning a whitish gray.

Caroline didn't even see him move.

Quite suddenly; he was on his feet; standing right in front of her and glaring into her eyes. He looked furious with her; as though _she_ was the one who had wronged him.

He brought his hand up to her face with vampire speed and grace. She flinched backwards; her heart thumping hard in her chest.

On the palm of his hand sat her daylight ring.

'Take it and leave Caroline.' He snapped. His voice was hoarse with what she thought was carefully suppressed rage.

'No.' she whispered defiantly; swallowing hard and trying to control her fear. He was closer now; she could see the tightness of his jaw, and the stiff frown on his face. He was hiding something from her. 'Not until you tell me _why_ you took it.'

'I took it to punish you. I should think that is quite obvious don't you?' He growled, shoving the ring in her direction.

She folded her arms across her chest furiously. Everything in her ached to snatch the ring from his outstretched hand; she longed for its safety; to have its constant security back. But she refused to allow him what he wanted. He would rather give her back her ring and send her packing than be honest with her. Well _Caroline_ wanted an explanation. And she was not leaving New Orleans without one.

'No, I don't think it's obvious at all.' She snarked at him. 'And if that _were_ true; why did you bring it back?'

'Because you-' his fingers closed around her ring as he snatched his hand back. His voice rose to a shout. 'You asked me-'

He bit off his words and turned from her. His fist clenched around her ring furiously. He paced for a few seconds, and then turned back to her abruptly.

'Klaus-' she snapped.

'Do not _push_ me Caroline.' He shouted at her, his voice a clear warning. She could see from the obvious frustration on his face that he was struggling with what to say to her.

'Just tell me the truth!' she yelled, unable to control the hot tears that filled her eyes suddenly. He made her so, _unbelievably_ angry.

'The truth!' he exploded angrily. 'You do not want to _know_, nor accept the _truth_ Caroline.'

He reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders.

'You know in your heart; exactly _why_ I took your ring. And I think your packed bag over there,' he snarled furiously at her; gesturing to her hold all which still sat fully packed on the edge of the sofa, 'is proof enough that I was bloody right to take the necessary precautions!'

His fingers pressed into the bones of her arms; they were nose to nose. But not even the sight of his lovely blue eyes could distract her from the shock and sheer outrage that stuck her then. He was despicable. The anger churned in her chest; making it difficult to breathe.

'You took my ring so that I couldn't leave?' she whispered, her voice shaking dangerously as she fought the urge to strangle him to death.

He laughed harshly at her; and let go of her arms, stalking away from her and heading straight for the alcohol cabinet. He did not answer her question.

'Seriously?' she breathed; her voice was ragged and hoarse.

'Yes Caroline,' he answered stiffly, avoiding her gaze as he poured himself a drink at the kitchen counter. 'I did.'

She squeezed her eyes shut for a second; unable to look at him. _How_. _Dare. _ _He_!

She had to take several deep breaths before she was able to form coherent words.

'I am _not_ your property Klaus.' Her voice was cold; and hard.

His head snapped up from his drink. He looked genuinely surprised at her tone of voice. It was about damn time he started taking note of what she was saying. Because she had never been more serious.

'It was not my intention-'

'_Yes_ it was!' she snapped furiously. Her nails bit into the soft skin of her palm as she tried to stop her hands from shaking. She could smell the blood as they cut through her skin. 'You think that you can control me the way you try to control everyone else! Well you can't!'

'Well you were _clearly_ attempting to leave before we could even have a conversation about last night-' He tried to defend himself.

She was having none of it. There was no defence that he could give her. She would never; _ever_; be ruled by him.

'That decision had nothing to do with you!' She screamed, interrupting him. 'Because it was _mine_!'

His eyes widened for a second in surprise but then narrowed as he began to resent her tone.

'I _knew_ you would leave.' He spat at her spitefully. He moved forward, drink in hand, a twisted smirk forming on his lips. 'Because that is what you _do_ Caroline. You run away. Like a scared little girl. The _second_ things become intense between us; you hide from it.'

'There is no 'us'!' she scoffed, trying to make her voice cold. She rolled her eyes at him and folded her arms the way she always had back in Mystic Falls.

'Yes there is!' he roared.

He smashed down the fist that was holding his glass of bourbon; down onto the countertop. Shards of glass and droplets of bourbon flew everywhere. The noise alone made Caroline jump out of her skin. He didn't even react. He stalked towards her; blood and bourbon dripping from his fingers.

He reached for her face, taking it in both of his hands. She felt his blood on her cheek. The scent of it; so close to her mouth made her eyes flutter. She remembered the taste of him only too well.

He dropped his forehead; resting it softly against hers. His mouth just millimetres from hers. She could feel his breath dancing across her lips.

Caroline closed her eyes. The scent of his blood and the taste of his breath; all mixed with the heady aroma of the bourbon on his hands; it was overwhelming her. If she had to look into his perfect sapphire eyes too; it would be the end of her. She pressed her palms against his chest. This was her last line of defence.

He moved forwards; pushing her, just slightly; but enough so that she felt her shoulders softly strike the wall behind them. She had nowhere to run to now. She could feel the slight pressure of his hip bones against her body. Her breathing was ragged.

Caroline felt her own lips part for his; completely betraying her.

He had made his point.

But Klaus didn't accept her surrender. He pressed his now healed fingers against her jaw bone; tilting her face upwards. His mouth ghosted across hers.

It was not quite a kiss. More like the promise of one. The beauty and perfection of that one simple touch brought made her cry. Tears rolled down her cheek. He was breaking her.

He spoke against her mouth; she was trembling all over. She had absolutely no control over her body's reaction to him.

'Try and tell me that _this_ is nothing love.' He whispered. His voice was hoarse, and he sounded... afraid.

Her own heart was pounding in her chest; the blood rushing through her veins was deafening.

She wanted to tell him it was nothing. She wanted it more than anything. Because he was _not_ right for her. They were not right for each other. But she couldn't. She couldn't.

She shook her head, silently and without words, conceding defeat. That was all she could give him right now.

He exhaled a breath that she'd not noticed he'd been holding on to. Then he kissed her cheek, softly, tenderly, just as he had on graduation night.

The cordless phone on the breakfast island in the kitchen rang sharply and shrilly. They both flinched at the sudden sound. He looked at her and she looked at him; and his dark eyes were burning into hers; the most passionate and earnest she had ever seen them. The space between them was nonexistent. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't blink. She could still taste his breath on her lips-

'Go, answer it.' She gasped.

'No,' he growled.

He was reluctant to step away from this... whatever _this_ was. Caroline got it; the way her body was _burning_, right now, she'd never felt anything like it, and she was addicted to the sensation already. That was the problem.

She forced the very last of her willpower into her fingertips; and pushed against his chest slightly. He frowned.

'Please?' she begged him. She was not proud of herself. She was weak.

He moved away from her without a word, turning his back on her, and going or the phone.

The absence of his body against hers was devastating. She bit her lip in frustration.

This was not what she wanted. But of course it was. She just didn't want to want it. She didn't _want_ to want him.

She raked her shaking hands through her hair.

To steal a term from her least favourite Salvatore. She was fucked.

* * *

'What?' Klaus snarled viciously down the phone.

Whoever had interrupted him had just signed their own death warrant.

There was a sigh of impatience on the other end of the line.

Elijah.

No one but his older brother could be so put out by rudeness.

'Rebekah has been seen at Louis Armstrong International.' Elijah declared, decidedly not giving Klaus another chance to yell at him. 'I thought you should be made aware.'

'I couldn't care less what our idiotic sister is up to Elijah.' Klaus snapped, gripping the phone so tightly in his irritation that he could hear the plastic whining.

Then a voice he did not expect came from behind him.

'Well that's not very polite brother.'

He dropped the phone.

Rebekah. Here. In his house. He should have guessed she would come here first.

Klaus took a deep, breath as every muscle in his body coiled in preparation for the eventual onslaught of abuse from his little sister. He was regretful that Caroline would now have to witness one of their deeply resentful and bitter arguments.

He turned around slowly. And then his eyes widened in horror. She had not come here for a fight; Rebekah had come here for revenge. She spoke at the same time that he took in exactly what she was about to do to him.

'And after I came all this way to welcome your new _baby_ to the family,' Rebekah smiled cruelly, triumph sparkling in her eyes. 'I even brought some gifts for the wolfie mummy to be; _Hayley_ is it?'

There his sister stood; her arms just bursting full of baby boutique bags, balloons and stuffed animals. The balloons all read 'Congratulations on your new baby.'

Klaus was frozen. Fury and fear overwhelmed him; holding him in place.

Caroline turned from looking quizzically at Rebekah and the contents of her arms; to stare at him; confusion, and then a horrifying and daunting look of realization came across her beautiful face.

At the same time; his sister winked at him; smiling; and showing him her pretty white teeth.

This would be Rebekah's very last minute on this earth. He would make sure of it.


End file.
